Design of approximate overclocked datapath

Embedded applications can often demand stringent latency requirements. While high degrees of parallelism within custom FPGA-based accelerators may help to some extent, it may also be necessary to limit the precision used in the datapath to boost the operating frequency of the implementation. However, by reducing the precision, the engineer introduces quantisation error into the design. In this thesis, we describe an alternative circuit design methodology when considering trade-offs between accuracy, performance and silicon area. We compare two different approaches that could trade accuracy for performance. One is the traditional approach where the precision used in the datapath is limited to meet a target latency. The other is a proposed new approach which simply allows the datapath to operate without timing closure. We demonstrate analytically and experimentally that for many applications it would be preferable to simply overclock the design and accept that timing violations may arise. Since the errors introduced by timing violations occur rarely, they will cause less noise than quantisation errors. Furthermore, we show that conventional forms of computer arithmetic do not fail gracefully when pushed beyond the deterministic clocking region. In this thesis we take a fresh look at Online Arithmetic, originally proposed for digit serial operation, and synthesize unrolled digit parallel online arithmetic operators to allow for graceful degradation. We quantify the impact of timing violations on key arithmetic primitives, and show that substantial performance benefits can be obtained in comparison to binary arithmetic. Since timing errors are caused by long carry chains, these result in errors in least significant digits with online arithmetic, causing less impact than conventional implementations.Open Acces

An Alternative Carry-save Arithmetic for New Generation Field Programmable Gate Arrays

In this work, a double carry-save addition operation is proposed, which is efficiently synthesized for 6-input LUT-based eld programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). The proposed arithmetic operation is based on redundant number representation and provides carry propagation-free addition. Using the proposed arithmetic operation, a compact and fast multiply and accumulate unit is designed. To our knowledge, the proposed design provides the fastest multiply-add operation for 6-input LUT-based FPGA systems. A nite impulse response lter implementation is given to show the performance of the proposed structure. The proposed implementation provides a dramatic performance increase, which is at least 2 times faster than conventional binary multiply-add implementations

Modular Exponentiation on Reconfigurable Hardware

It is widely recognized that security issues will play a crucial role in the majority of future computer and communication systems. A central tool for achieving system security are cryptographic algorithms. For performance as well as for physical security reasons, it is often advantageous to realize cryptographic algorithms in hardware. In order to overcome the well-known drawback of reduced flexibility that is associated with traditional ASIC solutions, this contribution proposes arithmetic architectures which are optimized for modern field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). The proposed architectures perform modular exponentiation with very long integers. This operation is at the heart of many practical public-key algorithms such as RSA and discrete logarithm schemes. We combine two versions of Montgomery modular multiplication algorithm with new systolic array designs which are well suited for FPGA realizations. The first one is based on a radix of two and is capable of processing a variable number of bits per array cell leading to a low cost design. The second design uses a radix of sixteen, resulting in a speed-up of a factor three at the cost of more used resources. The designs are flexible, allowing any choice of operand and modulus. Unlike previous approaches, we systematically implement and compare several versions of our new architecture for different bit lengths. We provide absolute area and timing measures for each architecture on Xilinx XC4000 series FPGAs. As a first practical result we show that it is possible to implement modular exponentiation at secure bit lengths on a single commercially available FPGA. Secondly we present faster processing times than previously reported. The Diffie-Hellman key exchange scheme with a modulus of 1024 bits and an exponent of 160 bits is computed in 1.9 ms. Our fastest design computes a 1024 bit RSA decryption in 3.1 ms when the Chinese remainder theorem is applied. These times are more than ten times faster than any reported software implementation. They also outperform most of the hardware-implementations presented in technical literature

A Novel ANFIS Algorithm Architecture for FPGA Implementation

This paper presents a new architecture for the Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) algorithm targeting FPGA implementation. This new architecture offers higher efficiency and scalability in comparison to the existing methods. The proposed architecture is modeled and simulated using VHDL and is targeted at a Xilinx FPGA. Existing implementation architectures are also modeled and comparisons are drawn between them in terms of both performance and logic utilization. The results show that the new architecture offers a reduction in calculation cycles of around 50% in comparison to the architecture from which it’s derived. This increase in calculation speed comes with only a modest increase in logic utilization, specifically a 2.5% increase in look-up table (LUT) usage and a 1.5% increase in flip-flop usage. The new architecture also eliminates scalability issues which can arise in the existing architectures when extra input members are required

Fast, compact and secure implementation of rsa on dedicated hardware

RSA is the most popular Public Key Cryptosystem (PKC) and is heavily used today. PKC comes into play, when two parties, who have previously never met, want to create a secure channel between them. The core operation in RSA is modular multiplication, which requires lots of computational power especially when the operands are longer than 1024-bits. Although today’s powerful PC’s can easily handle one RSA operation in a fraction of a second, small devices such as PDA’s, cell phones, smart cards, etc. have limited computational power, thus there is a need for dedicated hardware which is specially designed to meet the demand of this heavy calculation. Additionally, web servers, which thousands of users can access at the same time, need to perform many PKC operations in a very short time and this can create a performance bottleneck. Special algorithms implemented on dedicated hardware can take advantage of true massive parallelism and high utilization of the data path resulting in high efficiency in terms of both power and execution time while keeping the chip cost low. We will use the “Montgomery Modular Multiplication” algorithm in our implementation, which is considered one of the most efficient multiplication schemes, and has many applications in PKC. In the first part of the thesis, our “2048-bit Radix-4 based Modular Multiplier” design is introduced and compared with the conventional radix-2 modular multipliers of previous works. Our implementation for 2048-bit modular multiplication features up to 82% shorter execution time with 33% increase in the area over the conventional radix-2 designs and can achieve 132 MHz on a Xilinx xc2v6000 FPGA. The proposed multiplier has one of the fastest execution times in terms of latency and performs better than (37% better) our reference radix-2 design in terms of time-area product. The results are similar in the ASIC case where we implement our design for UMC 0.18 μm technology. In the second part, a fast, efficient, and parameterized modular multiplier and a secure exponentiation circuit intended for inexpensive FPGAs are presented. The design utilizes hardwired block multipliers as the main functional unit and Block-RAM as storage unit for the operands. The adopted design methodology allows adjusting the number of multipliers, the radix used in the multipliers, and number of words to meet the system requirements such as available resources, precision and timing constraints. The deployed method is based on the Montgomery modular multiplication algorithm and the architecture utilizes a pipelining technique that allows concurrent operation of hardwired multipliers. Our design completes 1020-bit and 2040-bit modular multiplications* in 7.62 μs and 27.0 μs respectively with approximately the same device usage on Xilinx Spartan-3E 500. The multiplier uses a moderate amount of system resources while achieving the best area-time product in literature. 2040-bit modular exponentiation engine easily fits into Xilinx Spartan-3E 500; moreover the exponentiation circuit withstands known side channel attacks with an insignificant overhead in area and execution time. The upper limit on the operand precision is dictated only by the available Block-RAM to accommodate the operands within the FPGA. This design is also compared to the first one, considering the relative advantages and disadvantages of each circuit

Residue Number System Based Building Blocks for Applications in Digital Signal Processing

Předkládaná disertační práce se zabývá návrhem základních bloků v systému zbytkových tříd pro zvýšení výkonu aplikací určených pro digitální zpracování signálů (DSP). Systém zbytkových tříd (RNS) je neváhová číselná soustava, jež umožňuje provádět paralelizovatelné, vysokorychlostní, bezpečné a proti chybám odolné aritmetické operace, které jsou zpracovávány bez přenosu mezi řády. Tyto vlastnosti jej činí značně perspektivním pro použití v DSP aplikacích náročných na výpočetní výkon a odolných proti chybám. Typický RNS systém se skládá ze tří hlavních částí: převodníku z binárního kódu do RNS, který počítá ekvivalent vstupních binárních hodnot v systému zbytkových tříd, dále jsou to paralelně řazené RNS aritmetické jednotky, které provádějí aritmetické operace s operandy již převedenými do RNS. Poslední část pak tvoří převodník z RNS do binárního kódu, který převádí výsledek zpět do výchozího binárního kódu. Hlavním cílem této disertační práce bylo navrhnout nové struktury základních bloků výše zmiňovaného systému zbytkových tříd, které mohou být využity v aplikacích DSP. Tato disertační práce předkládá zlepšení a návrhy nových struktur komponent RNS, simulaci a také ověření jejich funkčnosti prostřednictvím implementace v obvodech FPGA. Kromě návrhů nové struktury základních komponentů RNS je prezentován také podrobný výzkum různých sad modulů, který je srovnává a determinuje nejefektivnější sadu pro různé dynamické rozsahy. Dalším z klíčových přínosů disertační práce je objevení a ověření podmínky určující výběr optimální sady modulů, která umožňuje zvýšit výkonnost aplikací DSP. Dále byla navržena aplikace pro zpracování obrazu využívající RNS, která má vůči klasické binární implementanci nižší spotřebu a vyšší maximální pracovní frekvenci. V závěru práce byla vyhodnocena hlavní kritéria při rozhodování, zda je vhodnější pro danou aplikaci využít binární číselnou soustavu nebo RNS.This doctoral thesis deals with designing residue number system based building blocks to enhance the performance of digital signal processing applications. The residue number system (RNS) is a non-weighted number system that provides carry-free, parallel, high speed, secure and fault tolerant arithmetic operations. These features make it very attractive to be used in high-performance and fault tolerant digital signal processing (DSP) applications. A typical RNS system consists of three main components; the first one is the binary to residue converter that computes the RNS equivalent of the inputs represented in the binary number system. The second component in this system is parallel residue arithmetic units that perform arithmetic operations on the operands already represented in RNS. The last component is the residue to binary converter, which converts the outputs back into their binary representation. The main aim of this thesis was to propose novel structures of the basic components of this system in order to be later used as fundamental units in DSP applications. This thesis encloses improving and designing novel structures of these components, simulating and verifying their efficiency via FPGA implementation. In addition to suggesting novel structures of basic RNS components, a detailed study on different moduli sets that compares and determines the most efficient one for different dynamic range requirements is also presented. One of the main outcomes of this thesis is concluding and verifying the main condition that should be met when choosing a moduli set, in order to improve the timing performance of a DSP application. An RNS-based image processing application is also proposed. Its efficiency, in terms of timing performance and power consumption, is proved via comparing it with a binary-based one. Finally, the main considerations that should be taken into account when choosing to use the binary number system or RNS are also discussed in details.

Reconfigurable elliptic curve cryptography

Elliptic Curve Cryptosystems (ECC) have been proposed as an alternative to other established public key cryptosystems such as RSA (Rivest Shamir Adleman). ECC provide more security per bit than other known public key schemes based on the discrete logarithm problem. Smaller key sizes result in faster computations, lower power consumption and memory and bandwidth savings, thus making ECC a fast, flexible and cost-effective solution for providing security in constrained environments. Implementing ECC on reconfigurable platform combines the speed, security and concurrency of hardware along with the flexibility of the software approach. This work proposes a generic architecture for elliptic curve cryptosystem on a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) that performs an elliptic curve scalar multiplication in 1.16milliseconds for GF (2163), which is considerably faster than most other documented implementations. One of the benefits of the proposed processor architecture is that it is easily reprogrammable to use different algorithms and is adaptable to any field order. Also through reconfiguration the arithmetic unit can be optimized for different area/speed requirements. The mathematics involved uses binary extension field of the form GF (2n) as the underlying field and polynomial basis for the representation of the elements in the field. A significant gain in performance is obtained by using projective coordinates for the points on the curve during the computation process

A hardware-accelerated ecdlp with highperformance modular multiplication

Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) has become a popular public key cryptography standard. The security of ECC is due to the difficulty of solving the elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem (ECDLP). In this paper, we demonstrate a successful attack on ECC over prime field using the Pollard rho algorithm implemented on a hardware-software cointegrated platform. We propose a high-performance architecture for multiplication over prime field using specialized DSP blocks in the FPGA. We characterize this architecture by exploring the design space to determine the optimal integer basis for polynomial representation and we demonstrate an efficient mapping of this design to multiple standard prime field elliptic curves. We use the resulting modular multiplier to demonstrate low-latency multiplications for curves secp112r1 and P-192. We apply our modular multiplier to implement a complete attack on secp112r1 using a Nallatech FSB-Compute platform with Virtex-5 FPGA. The measured performance of the resulting design is 114 cycles per Pollard rho step at 100 MHz, which gives 878 K iterations per second per ECC core. We extend this design to a multicore ECDLP implementation that achieves 14.05 M iterations per second with 16 parallel point addition cores

Design and analysis of an FPGA-based, multi-processor HW-SW system for SCC applications

The last 30 years have seen an increase in the complexity of embedded systems from a collection of simple circuits to systems consisting of multiple processors managing a wide variety of devices. This ever increasing complexity frequently requires that high assurance, fail-safe and secure design techniques be applied to protect against possible failures and breaches. To facilitate the implementation of these embedded systems in an efficient way, the FPGA industry recently created new families of devices. New features added to these devices include anti-tamper monitoring, bit stream encryption, and optimized routing architectures for physical and functional logic partition isolation. These devices have high capacities and are capable of implementing processors using their reprogrammable logic structures. This allows for an unprecedented level of hardware and software interaction within a single FPGA chip. High assurance and fail-safe systems can now be implemented within the reconfigurable hardware fabric of an FPGA, enabling these systems to maintain flexibility and achieve high performance while providing a high level of data security. The objective of this thesis was to design and analyze an FPGA-based system containing two isolated, softcore Nios processors that share data through two crypto-engines. FPGA-based single-chip cryptographic (SCC) techniques were employed to ensure proper component isolation when the design is placed on a device supporting the appropriate security primitives. Each crypto-engine is an implementation of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), operating in Galois/Counter Mode (GCM) for both encryption and authentication. The features of the microprocessors and architectures of the AES crypto-engines were varied with the goal of determining combinations which best target high performance, minimal hardware usage, or a combination of the two