Proof-Carrying Hardware: Concept and Prototype Tool Flow for Online Verification

摘要

Dynamically reconfigurable hardware combineshardware performance with software-like flexibility and findsincreasing use in networked systems. The capability to loadhardware modules at runtime provides these systems with anunparalleled degree of adaptivity but at the same time posesnew challenges for security and safety. In this paper, we elaborate on the presentation of proof carryinghardware (PCH) as a novel approach to reconfigurablesystem security. PCH takes a key concept from software security,known as proof-carrying code, into the reconfigurable hardwaredomain. We outline the PCH concept and discuss runtimecombinational equivalence checking as a first online verificationproblem applying the concept. We present a prototype toolflow and experimental results demonstrating the feasibility andpotential of the PCH approach.