Based on commercially available IP, Codasip Prime enables advanced development of memory-safe and secure software and will help hardware and software engineers to evaluate and demonstrate the capabilities of CHERI technology, develop and run CHERI software, and integrate CHERI hardware into wider test systems.
Codasip Prime features a high-performance FPGA (field programmable gate array) system, including the processor and peripherals, and a full software development kit which contains:
Codasip X730 64bit RISC-V CHERI Application CPU
- Peripheral and system IP
- Security IP for secure boot and secure debug (True Random Number Generator, Test Access Port Protection Unit)
- CHERI-specific IP (capability tag management for DDR memory)
Out-of-the-box Linux demonstration image
Debug probe
CHERI Software Development Kit
- CHERI Linux
- CHERI C/C++ tool chain including compiler and debugger
- Secure Boot
- QEMU virtual platform matching FPGA
“Our new platform is a game changer for companies looking at adopting CHERI,” said Jamie Broome, chief product officer. “Codasip Prime allows software developers to develop and evaluate their applications before chips are built. In addition to hardware IP and software, we offer engineering support from our CHERI experts ensuring that alignment with industry standards is maintained, enabling early adopters to trust that their integrations are future proof.”
Security is rapidly growing in importance due to recent legislation such as the EU Cyber Resilience Act and CHERI is seen as being one of the most cost-effective ways to protect against memory safety vulnerabilities. It is backwards compatible and allows migration to safer code, and it makes C/C++ memory safe, avoiding costly software re-writes.
Codasip is standardising a CHERI extension for RISC-V in collaboration with other members of the CHERI Alliance. Members include the University of Cambridge, Google, the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the UK’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).
Codasip X730 is the first commercial implementation of the new CHERI-RISC-V extension and is now available.
