HCrypt: a novel concept of crypto-processor with secured key management

Lubos Gaspar (1) , Viktor Fischer (1) , Florent Bernard (1) , Lilian Bossuet (1) , Pascal Cotret (2)

1 LHC - Laboratoire Hubert Curien
2 Lab-STICC - Laboratoire des sciences et techniques de l'information, de la communication et de la connaissance

The paper presents a novel concept of processor aimed at symmetric-key cryptographic applications. Its architecture is optimized for implementation of common cryptography tasks. The processor has 128-bit separated data and key registers, dedicated instruction set optimized for key generation and management, embedded cipher, and embedded random number generator. From an architectural point of view, the most important characteristic of the proposed crypto-processor is the physical separation of data and key registers and buses, insuring that confidential keys will never leave the system in clear. This way, the processor enables to separate protected and unprotected security zones easily and also achieve complete physical isolation of key management and data zones inside the single FPGA. The first version of the processor implemented in Xilinx Virtex 5 FPGA device achieves the frequency of 160 MHz and it occupies 1343 configurable logic blocks and 21 embedded memory blocks.

Domaines: Cryptographie et sécurité [cs.CR]; Systèmes embarqués

Lubos Gaspar, Viktor Fischer, Florent Bernard, Lilian Bossuet, Pascal Cotret. HCrypt: a novel concept of crypto-processor with secured key management. ReConFig 2010 (2010 International Conference on ReConFigurable Computing and FPGAs), Dec 2010, Cancùn, Mexico. pp.280-285, ⟨10.1109/FPT.2011.6132722⟩. ⟨hal-00750348⟩