IPsec ESP Security Engine (Helion)
Device Family Support
- Spartan-3
- Virtex-4 FX
- Virtex-4 LX
- Virtex-4 SX
- Virtex-5 LX
- Virtex-5 LXT
- Virtex-5 SXT
The AllianceCORE IPsec ESP Security Engine from Helion is ideally suited for hardware acceleration of the packet processing required to implement an IPsec compliant device. Offloading ESP packet processing to hardware allows a system CPU to concentrate on the higher level IPsec protocols such as establishment and management of Security Associations, anti-replay detection and key exchanges with communicating IPsec network devices. This makes the Helion ESP Engine an ideal companion for optimum performance PowerPC and MicroBlaze IPsec solutions. Assuming as an example a user application implementing an IPsec security gateway operating in tunnel mode :
For ESP encryption, the engine performs all packet processing required to convert an incoming IP packet from the local private network into an output ESP packet. The security gateway then appends a new outer IP header prior to transmission on to the public network.
For ESP decryption, the engine performs all packet processing required to convert an incoming ESP packet from the public network (the IP header being discarded by the gateway) into an output IP packet ready for forwarding to the local private network. In the process, the ESP Engine also detects and reports any integrity check or ESP padding failures to the user application.
Key Features
- Ideal for use as Microblaze or PowerPC ESP hardware accelerator.
- Supports all mandatory and proposed ESP encryption and authentication algorithms, including combined mode algorithms such as AES-CCM.
- Supports all possible ESP security services; Confidentiality only; Integrity only; and combined Confidentiality and Integrity.
- Performs ESP trailer padding generation and checking in accordance with RFC2406.
- Supports Traffic Flow Confidentiality (TFC) padding and Extended (64-bit) Sequence Numbers.
- Ideal for use as Microblaze or PowerPC ESP hardware accelerator.
- Available under the terms of the SignOnce IP License.