Cephalopode: A custom processor aimed at functional language execution for IoT devices

The Internet of Things (IoT) conceives a future where "things" are interconnected by means of suitable information and communication technologies. Unfortunately, recent events have demonstrated the high vulnerability of IoT. One of the main reasons for this is the use of low-level programming languages. The Octopi project is developing technologies to easily and securely program IoT devices by the use of functional high-level languages. Unfortunately, a traditional implementation of a modern functional language that runs on traditional hardware is very resource demanding. So resource demanding that few, if any, IoT devices can run them.In the Cephalopode project (which is a subproject of Octopi) we are exploring the implementation of a very low power hardware device directly aimed at running a high-level functional language. By integrating many resource-heavy tasks into dedicated hardware, we aim at creating an execution engine for IoT devices that will allow secure programming.