Date: 16/09/2010

Actel FPGAs with cryptographic cores offering DPA Resistance

Actel has now made available Actel FPGAs with cryptographic cores offering differential power analysis (DPA) resistance. The SmartFusion, Fusion, ProASIC3 and IGLOO devices protect their secret keys from DPA attacks by implementing AES, GCM or ECC intellectual property cores from IP Cores, Inc. These cores are the first commercially available cryptographic cores for FPGAs offering DPA resistance.

"Anyone performing cryptographic operations in a fielded device in smart grid or secure radio applications, for example, should be concerned about DPA," said Dmitri Varsanofiev, CTO at IP Cores, Inc. "These cores use patented techniques to protect the customers' secret keys from being discovered using side-channel analysis."

Actel claims that it is the only FPGA company with a Cryptography Research, Inc. (CRI) DPA patent portfolio license. To use such cores on non-licensed FPGAs, customers must port the IP core and obtain a license from CRI.

"Actel is ready to accept orders immediately for CRI-licensed SmartFusion, Fusion, ProASIC3 and IGLOO devices." said Rich Kapusta, vice president of marketing and business development at Actel. "With these devices, our customers can build cryptographic systems of unprecedented security."