Tampere University has launched the SecureSoC project that aims to develop secure system-on-chip (SoC) technologies for future critical systems in Finland. This collaborative development initiative is funded by Business Finland and involves Insta, Nokia, VLSI Solution, Wapice, Xiphera and TTTech Flexibilis as industry partners. The total budget for the three-year SecureSoC project is €6.7 million.
The SecureSoC project focuses on the development of system-on-chip (SoC) solutions that will provide a foundation for secure, high-performance products across industry, defence, automation and other critical sectors. The project is based on a security-by-design approach, incorporating AI-assisted verification methods and building on the outcomes of the earlier SoC Hub initiative.
The new project is launched in response to a significant change in the operating environment. Under the EU Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), all network-connected products placed on the European market will be required to meet hardware-level cybersecurity requirements by 2027.
“Cybersecurity is becoming increasingly important in light of the current climate of global uncertainty and advances in quantum computing, which threaten the integrity of existing cryptographic algorithms. The SecureSoC project, coordinated by Tampere University, represents a natural continuation of the SoC Hub community’s efforts to strengthen expertise in secure chip technologies. Within this project, the University will undertake research that will, for example, support the advancement of our digital and analogue components towards commercial readiness. SecureSoC is also the first initiative under SoC Hub in which Tampere University engages in close collaboration with OpenTitan, an open-source silicon Root of Trust (RoT) project, as an official research partner,” says Pekka Jääskeläinen, Professor of Computer Sciences at Tampere University.
Industry partners contribute specialist expertise
The industry partners involved in SecureSoC bring strong specialist expertise to the project, spanning hardware-level cybersecurity, software development and system-level design. This university-industry collaboration enables a comprehensive approach in which security, performance and usability are integrated into a coherent whole from the earliest stages of the design process.
“In the future, secure system-on-chip solutions will be as important to digital sovereignty and security of supply as networks, software and communications systems. Through the SecureSoC project, Insta is contributing to the development of expertise and technologies that strengthen both Insta’s and Finland’s ability to develop domestically produced, high-assurance hardware-based systems, with security extending across the entire supply chain,” says Tatu Männistö, Senior Director of Technology at Insta Advance Oy.
Partners in the project in addition to Insta
VLSI (vlsi.fi)
Wapice (wapice.com)
Xiphera (xiphera.com)
Nokia (nokia.com)
TTTech Flexibilis Oy (https://www.tttech.com)
SecureSoC lays the foundation for long-term semiconductor development in Finland
The evaluation framework developed within the SecureSoC project will also serve as a foundation for Finland’s emerging semiconductor IP roadmap and marketplace. It will provide a platform for integrating, testing and validating reusable IP blocks, subsystems and future SoC derivatives.
SecureSoC is therefore not only an individual research project but also lays the groundwork for the sustained development of semiconductor technologies in Finland.