Overview
Not all encryption requirements demand gigabit performance, and Helion
recognise that in order for IP to be an effective choice, it should never be
a compromise. Where many IP vendors may limit you to a choice of one or two
solutions, Helion are different. We have developed a range of four AES core
families each offering a different speed/area balance which together cover any
throughput requirement up to many tens of Gbps.....but with plenty of emphasis
placed on the lower end of the spectrum too. This way you can choose the most
optimal fit for your particular requirement. In this section we look at the
Tiny AES core family.
Helion Tiny AES Solutions
The Helion Tiny AES core is our smallest solution, and was designed specifically
for applications where data rates are low but minimal area is absolutely paramount.
This requirement applies to many applications, for example set-top boxes, mobile
wireless communications systems or satcomms. The result is the smallest fully
featured AES solution available today spanning all ASIC and FPGA technologies.
Despite its extremely small footprint, the Tiny AES core is a very capable performer.
It offers full AES encryption and decryption using any combination of the three AES
key sizes (128-, 192-, and 256-bits). It can be used to implement any of the common
block cipher modes (take a look at our AES modes pages
for more information). The table below outlines the kind of area and performance
achievable using the Tiny AES core.
Measured Area and Performance
128-bit keysize ECB Encryption and Decryption including hardware key expansion
| TARGET |
MAX THROUGHPUT |
AREA |
ASIC
(0.13um CMOS) |
>100 Mbps |
<5k gates
(no RAM required) |
Actel FPGA
(ProASIC3 -2) |
>21 Mbps |
829 tiles
3 RAMs |
Altera FPGA
(Cyclone 3 -6) |
>33 Mbps |
397 LEs
3 M9K RAMs |
Altera FPGA
(Stratix 3 -2) |
>66 Mbps |
399 ALUTs
2 M9K RAMs |
Xilinx FPGA
(Spartan 3 -5) |
>34 Mbps |
166 slices
1 BlockRAM |
Xilinx FPGA
(Virtex 4 -11) |
>48 Mbps |
166 slices
1 BlockRAM |
Xilinx FPGA
(Virtex 5 -3) |
>77 Mbps |
94 slices
0 BlockRAM |
If the performance of the Helion Tiny AES core does not match your needs, try looking at our
Standard AES cores for higher throughput capabilities.
Datasheets
For full details of the Helion Tiny AES cores, please download the datasheet appropriate to your target technology.
Click here for the ASIC core data sheet (PDF format)
Click here for the Actel FPGA core data sheet (PDF format)
Click here for the Altera FPGA core data sheet (PDF format)
Click here for the Xilinx FPGA core data sheet (PDF format)
Whitepapers
Click here for an easy to read overview on AES in hardware (PDF format)
Contact
For more detailed information on this or any of our other products and services,
please feel free to email us at
helioncores@heliontech.com and we will be pleased to discuss how we can assist
with your individual requirements.
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