Xilinx Zynq-7000 All Programmable SoC Accelerates the Development of Trusted Systems at ARM TechCon 2012

Developers now have access to key hardware and software technologies, including on-chip decryption, authentication, ARM TrustZone architecture, commercial and open source hypervisors, IP cores, and development boards. Collectively, these technologies offered by Xilinx, Xilinx Alliance Program members and the ARM Connected Community enable systems that must address secure boot, separation and isolation of independent software stacks, information assurance, and Anti-Tamper.

Nearly every engineer within every market segment must consider the various aspects of safety or security within their design, particularly at any point where they are exposed to the world, whether via a network interface, physical pin, or wireless connection, said Larry Getman, vice president of processing platforms at Xilinx. Xilinx is one of the first companies to take a holistic approach to these difficult system challenges by embracing a broad base of capabilities and solutions from key technologies and documentation, to commercial as well as open source software, for ultimately enabling the development of safe and secure systems.

The Zynq-7000 All Programmable SoC architecture integrates a feature-rich ARM dual-core Cortex-A9 MPCore processing system and Xilinx 28nm programmable logic in a single device. The Zynq-7000 devices target a number of different applications in various markets, including Aerospace & Defense, automotive, as well as industrial, science and medical. Each of these markets has different requirements related to secure-boot, real-time, safety and security. For example, in addition to the secure boot feature of the Zynq-7000 All Programmable SoC, developers now have additional options that allow them to meet system requirements for safety/security and performance through approaches and technologies. These approaches include ARM TrustZone technology supporting a full trusted execution environment (TEE), hypervisors and classical asymmetric multi processing (AMP).

“ARM welcomes the integration of ARM Cortex processors and fabric with ARM TrustZone technology, and ARM Artisan Physical IP in Xilinx’s Zynq-7000 All Programmable SoC. Leading companies deploying security solutions need hardware, software and services to work together perfectly. Xilinx’s Zynq-7000 devices provide a useful hardware platform for system-wide security that is readily available for developers,” said Noel Hurley, vice president marketing and strategy, processor division, ARM. “The availability of SoC platforms supporting an ARM TrustZone-based Trusted Execution Environment is creating a new generation of secure and smart connected devices, and delivers the best user experiences for consumers.”

Xilinx at ARM TechCon 2012
At booth #515, attendees will see how Zynq-7000 All Programmable SoC secure solutions can provide OS and software isolation for safety and security critical applications, as well as provide real-time performance and guarantees for time-critical applications. Using hypervisor technology, a graphical Linux application running a multi-partition system involving POSIX RTOS, and Linux OS, the demonstration will perform different scenarios demonstrating stopping and resuming some partitions, changing scheduling policy, and showing impact on real-time behavior.

In addition, experts from Xilinx, ARM and other industry leaders will participate in a panel titled, Critical System Design Challenges for a Secure World: Alternative Approaches and What Remains to be Done on Thursday, November 1 at 12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m. on the expo floor.