Heterogeneous multicore SoC for secure multimedia applications

A heterogeneous multicore SoC (System on a Chip) has been developed for HD (high-definition) multimedia applications that require secure DRM (digital rights management). The SoC integrates three types of processors: two specific-purpose accelerators for a cipher and a high-resolution video decoding; one general-purpose accelerator (MX: Matrix processor); and three CPUs. This is how our SoC achieves high performance and low power consumption with hardware customized for video processing applications that process a large amount of data. To achieve secure data control, hardware memory management and software system virtualization are adopted. The security of the system is the result of the cooperation between the hardware and software on the system. Furthermore, a highly tamper-resistant system is provided on our SiP (system in a package), through DDR memories and Flash ROM that contain confidential information in one package. This secure multimedia processor provides a solution to protect contents and to safely deliver secure sensitive information when processing billing transactions that involve digital content delivery. The SoC was implemented in the 90 nm generic CMOS technology.