Vivado IP Encryption Tool and Improving Collaboration in the Electronic Warfare Industry

The electronic warfare industry would benefit greatly from improved collaboration between both government-civilian partnerships, and civilian-civilian alliances. Cooperation is a great way to maximize the efficiency of problem-solving efforts. By improving the ways in which government and civilians can collaborate with each other, we increase the amount of knowledge that can be pooled when working towards a solution. However, this isn’t frequently accomplished because there are many obstacles that must be overcome when collaborating. One of these obstacles is the desire to protect one’s intellectual property from other companies. Another obstacle is the need to protect classified information within the electronic warfare sector. While there are many more obstacles like these, another worth mentioning is poor communication. Without overcoming these difficulties, collaboration can become a hinderance rather than an enabler. One way to overcome these problems is to ensure proper communication channels are established. Another recommendation is to establish solid goals and measures of success early so that the group is all working toward the same objective. It is also necessary to understand the importance of individuals effectively presenting their information to expand the group’s shared knowledge. Specific to the Electronic Warfare industry, a way to improve collaboration is through the establishment of industry standards. While there are already several standards, Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) firmware specifically is lacking in established standards, resulting in cooperation being unnecessarily difficult. Another useful tool specific to firmware within the electronic warfare department is the AMD Xilinx Vivado encryption tool. This tool allows for firmware modules to be encrypted and packaged. Doing so maintains the utility of a firmware module while protecting the source code through encryption. By using this tool, one can protect their intellectual property from another company while sharing the functionality of their code. The Vivado encryption tool has been very useful and will have a positive impact on collaboration within the electronic warfare sector.