Security Interface for Execution Control from a Tightly Coupled Security Core

Preserving critical data, preventing unauthorized access, and securing communication are aspects of information security. Implementing them as hardware is more reliable than software. There are various hardware solutions that suggest using a separate computational unit, which is capable of providing various security enhancements. This article describes a heterogeneous security architecture with a tightly coupled security core to the CPU. A security interface that allows direct control and monitoring of the security core over the CPU is proposed. In the article analysis of how the interface interacts with the controlled and monitored CPU is done. This analysis explains the benefits and why for certain aspects, control is implemented seeking performance, while for others, using less logic.