NSA certifies Xilinx Spartan-6Q FPGA for cryptographic secure applications with anti-tamper requirements

SAN JOSE, Calif., 4 Sept. 2011. The U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) at Fort Meade, Md., has approved Spartan-6Q field-programmable gate array (FPGA) from Xilinx Inc. in San Jose, Calif., for type 1 cryptographic systems.NSA approval covers elements of the Spartan-6Q secure communications that provides single-chip cryptography (SCC) and Security Monitor 2.0 IP core for physical design security. SCC helps engineers reduce secure FPGA designs to one device to reduce size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C). The he Spartan-6Q can isolate user functionality within one device while maintaining anti-tamper capability, Xilinx officials say.NSA experts confirmed that regions of the Spartan-6Q are isolated from each other in the event of failure. The Xilinx isolation design flow and verification process also provides techniques useful in other high- reliability applications such as commercial avionics governed by FAA DO-254 and commercial cryptographic systems governed by NIST FIPS-140, Xilinx officials say.

The defense-grade Spartan-6Q device also offers mask set control, ruggedized environmental operation, and long product life. The Spartan-6Q family of FPGAs offers low power consumption, and is fabricated on a 45-nanometer dual-oxide process.

For more information contact Xilinx online at www.xilinx.com.

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