AN 556: Using the Design Security Features in Intel FPGAs

ID 683269
Date 5/21/2021
Public
Document Table of Contents

Supported Configuration Schemes

The design security feature is available in all configuration schemes except JTAG-based configuration.

Table 12.  Design Security Support for Each Configuration Scheme
Configuration Scheme Configuration Method Design Security Notes
FPP A MAX® II or MAX® V device, or a microprocessor and a flash memory Yes In this mode, the host system must send a DCLK signal that is 4x the data rate.
AS Serial configuration device Yes
PS A MAX® II or MAX® V device, or a microprocessor and a flash memory Yes
Intel® FPGA Download Cable and Intel® FPGA Download Cable II Yes Configure encrypted .rbf to FPGA using PS mode in Intel® Quartus® Prime Programmer.
JTAG Intel® FPGA Download Cable and Intel® FPGA Download Cable II For key programming.

If your system contains a common flash interface (CFI) flash memory, you can also use it for the FPGA configuration. The MAX® II and MAX® V together with the Parallel Flash Loader Intel® FPGA IP core provides an efficient method to program CFI flash memory through the JTAG interface.

You can use the design security feature with other configuration features, such as the compression and remote system upgrade features. When compression is used with the design security feature, the configuration file is first compressed and then encrypted in the Intel® Quartus® Prime software. During configuration, the FPGA first decrypts and then uncompresses the configuration file.

Note: Encryption and compression cannot be used simultaneously in 20-nm FPGAs.

You can either perform boundary-scan test (BST) or use the Signal Tap logic analyzer to analyze functional data within the FPGA. However, you cannot perform JTAG configuration after the key with tamper-protection bit set is programmed into the 40-nm, 28-nm or 20-nm FPGAs.

When using the Signal Tap logic analyzer, you must first configure the device with an encrypted configuration file using PS, FPP, or AS configuration schemes. The design must contain at least one instance of the Signal Tap logic analyzer. After the FPGA is configured with a Signal Tap logic analyzer instance in the design. Open the Signal Tap logic analyzer window in the Intel® Quartus® Prime software and click Scan Chain. Once the scanning is complete, the Signal Tap logic analyzer is ready to acquire data using JTAG interface.