SALeM: Optimized System Design for Assurance and Life-cycle Management
Abstract
The semiconductor industry is transitioning toward system-in-package (SiP) designs for increased performance and functionality. In a SiP, functionality is disaggregated into smaller chiplets connected by silicon interposers and substrate. Despite the advantages of flexibility, cost reduction, and yield improvement, SiP designs face challenges in security and sustainability, impacting confidentiality, integrity, availability, and lifetime. Ensuring the secure and sustainable operation of these devices is crucial for their successful deployment in critical/DoD applications. We believe security and sustainability are quite related when it comes to managing them in the field at run-time. Sustainability ensures devices meet the expected lifetime, while security concern focuses on confidentiality and integrity of the sensitive information in the system and that is managed by verifying security policies (statically or at run-time). However, the benign behavior of a SiP can be compromised by potential zero-day vulnerabilities, i.e., security flawsunknown to developers. The sustainability of electronic devices is critical to addressing the global challenges posed by the mounting volume of e-waste. The novel materials in the emerging heterogeneous integration package of SiPs can result in more complicated circumstances since the safe recycling practices are not yet defined. Therefore, extending the lifecycle of microelectronic devices is imperative to enhance device sustainability by mitigating e-waste issues, recovering in-field systems, providing hardware securityupdates over the air, and enabling sustainability-for-security.In this project, we propose to develop a first-of-its-kind optimizedsystem design for assurance and lifecycle management (SALeM) to address the aforementioned concerns. To accomplish this goal, SALeMadopts upgradable architecture and fine-grained monitoring capabilities to enable run-time security monitoring and upgrade and sustainability enhancement by lifecycle extension and device reuse. Specifically, SALeM enables advanced observability and flexibility in real-time security monitoring using distributed monitoring agents. These agents encompass various sensors to collect and report data (e.g., aging status) from chiplets transmitted to an embedded FPGA for further analysis. They provide meticulous observability insecurity-critical areas, while reconfigurable hardware-based controllers offer adaptability in deploying dynamic security policies against sophisticated attacks like zero-day threats. Also, SALeM tackles the crucial aspects of system health and sustainability by addressing the varying lifespans of devices. SALeM aims to mitigate sustainability challenges by focusing on strategies such as reducing replacement frequency, extending device lifespan, and enabling device reuse for diverse applications. We anticipate that SALeM will significantly influence the core mission of the DoD by mitigating the risk of adversarial intrusions during runtime and information leakage, while concurrently bolstering sustainability in military and naval applications. Moreover, our methodology holds potential for semiconductor industry leaders, as they can integrate our advanced monitoring capabilities into their cutting-edge products. This integration has the potential to boost revenue and enhance brand reputation by providing runtime solutions that prioritize both security and sustainability, benefiting both the companies and their customers. Finally, the PI has a proven record of working with undergraduate minority students and will ensure to engage with them in this research.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 24, 2024
- Source ID
- N000142412087
Entities
People
- Farimah Farahmandi
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Florida