A Security Framework for RISC-V SoC using Hardware Software Co-Design

Abstract

The open source nature of the RISC-V architecture has led to its rapid adoption across various computing domains, from embedded IoT devices to high-performance computing. However, this openness also introduces unique security challenges. The background study done in the paper highlights the ongoing works in the field of RISC-V vulnerabilities and counter measures, suggests the need of security framework addressing key vulnerabilities. We identify cache-based side-channel attacks as a significant concern in current RISC-V implementations. A short description of ongoing research work and experimental setup of RISC-V is presented. We used FPGA ARTY A7-100 and CDAC RISC-V IP AT1051 for the SoC. The resource utilization was 76% of the total LUTs and 57% of BRAM. The SoC is hold violation free, where WHS is 0.013ns. A security core AES IP was developed and tested. To enhance the security the integration of the IP is planned as future scope.