P3041 Features

P3041 QorIQ Communications Processor Product Brief, Rev. 0

Freescale Semiconductor

21

3.11.4.4

Security Engine (SEC 4.2)

The SEC 4.2 is QorIQ’s fourth generation crypto-acceleration engine. In addition to off-loading

cryptographic algorithms, the SEC 4.2 offers header and trailer processing for several established security

protocols. The SEC 4.2 includes several Descriptor Controllers (DECOs), which are updated versions of

the previous SEC crypto-channels. DECOs are responsible for header and trailer processing, and

managing context and data flow into the CHAs assigned to it for the length of an operation.

The DECOs can perform header and trailer processing, as well as single pass encryption/integrity checking

for the following security protocols:

•IPsec

•

SSL/TLS

•SRTP

•

IEEE Std 802.1AE™ MACSec

•

IEEE 802.16e WiMax MAC layer

•

3GPP RLC encryption/decryption

In prior versions of the SEC, the individual algorithm accelerators were referred to as Execution Units

(EUs). In the SEC 4.2, these are referred to as Crypto Hardware Accelerators (CHAs) to distinguish them

from prior implementations. Specific CHAs available to the DECOs are listed below.

•

Advanced encryption standard unit (AESA)

•

ARC four execution unit (AFHA)

•

Cyclic redundancy check accelerator (CRCA)

•

Data encryption standard execution unit (DESA)

•

Kasumi execution unit (KFHA)

•

SNOW 3 G hardware accelerator (STHA)

•

Message digest execution unit (MDHA)

•

Public key execution unit (PKHA)

•

Random number generator (RNGB)

Depending on the security protocol and specific algorithms, the SEC 4.2’s aggregate symmetric

encryption/integrity performance is 5 Gbps, while asymmetric encryption (RSA public key) performance

is ~5,000 1024b RSA operations per second.

The SEC 4.2 is also part of the QorIQ Trust Architecture, which gives the P3041 the ability to perform

secure boot, runtime code integrity protection, and session key protection. The Trust Architecture is

described in Section 3.12, “Avoiding Resource Contentions Using the QorIQ Trust Architecture.”