Open Se Cura: First silicon results of an auditable and transparent hardware root-of-trust system using open electronic design automation in 16 nm

Hardware root of trust (HRoT) is essential for IoT devices as it provides critical user data protection. However, each novel use case significantly lengthens the development time for an HRoT system. Furthermore, most HRoT solutions are proprietary, and users lack permission to inspect and audit such systems
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,
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. This article introduces Open Se Cura, which is an open source framework designed to expedite the implementation of secure and transparent HRoT systems. The platform grants designers the flexibility to choose their preferred electronic design automation (EDA) tools. They can opt for proprietary EDA solutions or select from open source alternatives, including OpenROAD
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,
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, using the OpenFASOC framework
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,
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. Additionally, the platform supports the use of open source process design kits (PDKs) to present a transparent and auditable approach to hardware–software co-design. This approach enables fast and trustworthy HRoT system implementation and is openly available to reproduce its results and security efficacy
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. The extended version of the Open Se Cura reference design is showcased through FPGA emulation and its 22-nm ASIC implementation. We finally present the first measurement results of a 16-nm silicon implementation of selected components from OpenTitan, the security RoT hardware building block of Open Se Cura. This work was integrated using OpenFASOC’s modular flow, which allows one to call for open tools, such as OpenROAD, for physical design and closed tools for the missing open source EDA in 16 nm.