A secure and simplified technique for configuaring SRAM based FPGA

FPGAs are becoming increasingly attractive - thanks to the improvement of their capacities and their performances. Today, FPGAs represent an efficient design solution for numerous embedded solutions. There are several alternatives for configuring these FPGAs. However, these configuration solutions are vulnerable and often require significant up-front design effort and time. This paper proposes a simple, efficient and secure configuration method that utilizes a USB to SPI bridge chip to configure an FPGA device. This solution offers multiple benefits compared to traditional scheme where a microprocessor or microcontroller is used for the same. The approach considerably reduces component count, board space, and costs. The technique describes a low power and low cost dedicated interface for In-system programming of FPGA devices. This method can also serve to replace the popular JTAG configuration interface and eliminate the need for a separate JTAG connector on the board, hence reducing cost and board space moreover leading to more secure configuration. The design had been implemented and tested on a custom Xilinx FPGAs board.