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Development and Verification Tools/Processes for ASICs and FPGAsAward last edited on: 6/20/2023
Sponsored Program
SBIRAwarding Agency
DOD : AFTotal Award Amount
$4,033,998Award Phase
2Solicitation Topic Code
AF141-093Principal Investigator
Robert FoustCompany Information
Phase I
Contract Number: FA9453-14-M-0132Start Date: 6/20/2014 Completed: 3/2/2015
Phase I year
2014Phase I Amount
$149,740Benefit:
There is growing need for assured microelectronics as failures in weapon systems could have far-reaching consequences jeopardizing the success of a mission, the welfare of our nation and in the case of a nuclear accident, human life altogether. The microelectronics supply chain for defense electronics systems can use parts that come from a large variety of suppliers over a products life cycle, resulting in many opportunities to disrupt critical functions by inserting backdoors and malicious content. Design strategies and methods need to be improved to not only exhibit correct design functionality, but to also assure that only what is designed is implemented and nothing more. Verification process flows will be developed for this effort which will give the Air Force and its Primes a systematic method to screen for malicious alterations and defective components which are prone to fail. After a design has undergone thorough verification, system reliability will be increased and a higher degree of safety will be obtained. With REVEAL, failures in manufactured circuits which have not been completely verified will be precluded, there will be greater assurance that fielded hardware only implements its specified functionality, critical systems will be more easily maintained, and ownership costs will be reduced. We envision applications of REVEAL within the DoD, NSA, homeland security and market areas where an utmost level of safety is required from factory machinery, to commercial aircraft, automobiles or roller coasters.
Keywords:
verification, device
Phase II
Contract Number: FA9453-15-C-0448Start Date: 9/24/2015 Completed: 1/30/2019
Phase II year
2015(last award dollars: 2022)
Phase II Amount
$3,884,258Benefit:
There is growing need for assured microelectronics as failures in weapon systems could have far-reaching consequences jeopardizing the success of a mission, the welfare of our nation and in the case of a nuclear accident, human life altogether. Microelectronics can experience faults and subsequent failures due to a variety of reasons including poor design, manufacturing deficiencies, and out-of-spec physical conditions. Design strategies and methods need to be improved to not only exhibit correct design functionality, but to also assure that if faults do occur, the system will not enter an unsafe state. Verification process flows will be developed for this effort which will give the Air Force and its Primes a systematic method to screen for failure modes that lead to unsafe states. With REVEAL, failures in manufactured circuits will be traced back to faults that may occur in its functionality, which will save time and money by assuring safe and rugged designs before manufacturing. We envision applications of REVEAL within the DoD, NNSA, and market areas where an utmost level of safety is required from factory machinery, and aviation and automotive electronics.