FPGAs handle high-grade cryptographic processing

A new design flow and verification process enabled by Xilinx Virtex-4 FPGAs provides the industry's first FPGA-based single chip cryptographic solution.

This week at the Software Radio Summit Technical Conference, Xilinx revealed the results of a joint technology development project with The National Security Agency (NSA) consistent with the Department of Defense's (DoD) Crypto Modernisation initiatives.

Enabled by Xilinx Virtex-4 FPGAs, the new design flow and verification process provides the industry's first FPGA-based single chip cryptographic solution.

The jointly developed solution is based on NSA requirements for high-grade cryptographic processing and required an exhaustive analysis to evaluate the security of the Virtex-4 family of FPGAs, and their ability to allow independent functions on a single chip.

"This new technology allows the information assurance industry to maximise the advantages of programmable logic to obtain a true COTS solution to what has historically been a custom process", said Eric Sivertson, General Manager for Aerospace and Defense at Xilinx.

With more than 100 technical innovations, the Virtex-4 family of domain optimised FPGAs consists of 17 devices and three domain-optimised platforms: Virtex-4 LX FPGAs for logic-intensive designs, Virtex-4 SX FPGAs for high-performance signal processing, and Virtex-4 FX FPGAs for high-speed serial connectivity and embedded processing.

Devices are shipping now.

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