Faculty of
Design Computer Science Media

Project description

There are promising approaches to open-source hardware design, but these have not yet achieved industry-wide acceptance as they have in the software sector.
DI-SIGN-HEP will further bridge this gap by developing a manageable hardware security module (HSM) – the ‘HEP-HSM’ – that is easy to integrate commercially, using a toolchain that is fully open-source right down to the ASIC level. This stands in stark contrast to projects such as ‘Caliptra’, which does not aim for a fully open-source approach. We aim to create a flagship project which, beyond its direct applicability, paves the way for similar follow-up projects, thereby contributing to a chip design ecosystem in Germany and Europe.
Key research objectives are:

1. Research is being conducted into how an open, formally verified and easy-to-use basic HSM module can be integrated into the standardised HSM framework ‘Caliptra’. As Caliptra is currently based on SystemVerilog, its use and integration are almost exclusively possible with proprietary tools. This project aims to change that: the focus will be on identifying and closing functionality gaps in open-source EDA tools, whilst also developing a user-friendly verification tool to make current advances in the formal verification of a SpinalHDL-based RISC-V core easily accessible to the open-source community.
2. The basic HSM module will be extended to include essential root-of-trust components, in particular a random number generator and non-volatile memory, which will be incorporated into the underlying open PDK.
3. During development, preparations are being made for the subsequent certification and maintenance of the DI-SIGN-HEP-HSM to facilitate its commercial deployment.
4. The integration of these project-specific HSM base modules into the open-source ‘Caliptra’ industry standard is intended to strengthen European sovereignty in microelectronics by securing a key component.