Mil Tech Trends: Controlling the UAV overhead (Part 1 of 2)
Editor’s note: Due to popular demand (and about twice as many articles and interviews as we could print in this edition alone), we share Part 1 of our special coverage on UAVs in this edition. Look for Part 2 in our June edition.
Case study: Secure FPGA technology enables UAV communications and control
By Jim Anderson
Single-chip cryptography enables a cost-effective implementation of a UAV command and control system in a single FPGA. Partial reconfiguration capabilities in the programmable IC add SWaP-C savings because a less-dense, lower-power FPGA can host the design.
Over the past few years, the U.S. military and its allies have come to increasingly rely on Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) systems to carry out surveillance and combat missions around the world. Secure communication links are vital for UAV operation, both to control the UAV based on mission objectives and to reliably deliver actionable data to mission controllers on the ground. Encryption and decryption are inherent requirements, adding complexity and cost in the UAV electronics package. But with a single FPGA capable of meeting Type 1 cryptographic require- ments, design teams can leverage reprogrammability and realize Size, Weight, Power, and Cost savings – referred to as SWaP-C savings. Xilinx and Advanced Communications Concepts, Inc. (ACCI) have demonstrated one such UAV communication and control system based on an FPGA.
The UAV application relies on a Single-Chip Crypto (SCC) design implemented in an FPGA to protect communications between the ground control stations and the UAV. The implemen- tation completely safeguards the telemetry, video, and control data. The example system relies on the power of FPGA partial reconfiguration to provide algorithm swapping within a field- upgradable solution, all in a small product footprint.
Xilinx worked with the leading defense solution developers and key government agencies to develop an FPGA design flow and verification process that enables a single FPGA to meet Type 1 cryptographic requirements. The older method for meeting Type 1 cryptographic requirements employed two FPGAs – one to securely partition the unencrypted portions of the design. In the single-chip implementation, unused logic elements serve to implement the partitions.
28 March/April 2011 MILITARY EMBEDDED SYSTEMS
The design flow isolates regions of the FPGA that handle red and black data and the encryption/decryption function (Figure 1). The red portions of the design deal with unencrypted data and must be isolated from the portions that deal with encrypted data. The SCC sits functionally between the red and black sides. The UAV example described here is based on a Virtex-5 FPGA using the SCC technology.
The UAV demo At conferences such as MILCOM, Xilinx and ACCI have demonstrated an FPGA-equipped UAV providing a real-time encrypted flow of control, telemetry, and video data between the UAV and the ruggedized, laptop computer-based ground- control stations (Figure 2). The live-fly version has flown at events such as Air Force Joint Forcible Entry Exercise (JFEX) and the SOCOM/NPS Tactical Network Topology (TNT) exer- cises. They are being evaluated for use in various planes and systems, including UAVs.
The UAV command and control system uses a Virtex-5 FPGA with an integrated PowerPC processor. The system requires little more than the FPGA, MEMS accelerometers, and a physi- cal layer for the wireless communications link. In developing the system, ACCI started with the SCC design flow and Xilinx’s
UAV (1:100 Model of MQ-9 Reaper)
Pan / Tilt / Zoom Camera
Physical Control Flight Emulation
Video Processing / Demo Control / Telemetry /
Tactically Unbreakable Communication (TUC)
ACCi Unit (V5 FX70T)
Encrypted Data
Stream (Ethernet) Emulated
UAV Ground Control Station
(Creech Air Force Base)
Tactically Unbreakable Communciation (TUC)
Encryption / Decryption ACCi Board
(V5 FX70T)
Emulated
UAV Control MS Flight Sim
Video Control
Pan / Tilt / Zoom Corrected Video
Figure 1 | Type 1 cryptography demands isolation between encrypted (black) and unencrypted (red) regions of the UAV system.
U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Donald Watkins
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