For the first time, world-class security IP for silicon Root of Trust is now available for academic research - thanks to a new collaboration between IHP - Leibniz Institute for High Performance Microelectronics, eMemory and its subsidiary PUFsecurity.
idw-online.de, Jul. 16, 2025 –
IHP, eMemory, and PUFsecurity have announced a strategic partnership to provide universities and research institutes with free access to eMemory’s NeoFuse OTP and PUFsecurity’s PUFrt IP for non-commercial academic research. These industrial-grade security technologies will be available for academic tape-outs using IHP’s 130nm BiCMOS G2 process and open-source PDK (IHP-Open130-G2). This initiative enables academic teams to integrate proven Root of Trust (RoT) components for secure boot, attestation, and key management into their designs.
Root of Trust (RoT) components – such as One-Time Programmable (OTP) memory and Physically Unclonable Functions (PUF) – provide the foundation for establishing trust in a system by enabling secure boot, key storage, and hardware-based identity. Yet for a long time, these technologies remained locked behind proprietary, commercial barriers. By opening access, the partnership removes a key barrier to academic and open-source innovation in hardware security, empowering researchers to move beyond theory and prototype real, verifiable secure systems.
This collaboration also aligns with the goals of DI-SIGN-HEP, a project funded by the German Federal Ministry for Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) as part of the national “Design Initiative”. DI-SIGN-HEP seeks to build open, reliable hardware security platforms based on the open-source Caliptra Root of Trust architecture. By contributing industrial-grade IP to the open-source ecosystem, the initiative significantly advances Europe’s capabilities in trustworthy electronics.
By unlocking access to industrial-grade security IP, the initiative fuels innovation across academia and industry alike. It paves the way for transparent, verifiable chip designs and accelerates the development of secure, next-generation electronic systems.
The security IP blocks will be integrated into the IHP-Open130-G2 platform and made available to eligible academic institutions via GitHub (GitHub link). The first tape-out opportunities are expected to be available by the second quarter of 2026.
“We’re excited to open up proven RoT IP for hands-on use in academic research,” said Dr. Norbert Herfurth, Head of the Research Group ‘Diagnostics, Sensory & Emerging Modules’ at IHP. “This collaboration is a major step toward making secure silicon design more open and accessible. I’m especially looking forward to seeing the IP in action as part of a Caliptra-related integration here at IHP.”
“This partnership shows how NeoFuse and our PUF-based Root of Trust, PUFrt, can power the security designs that meet the Caliptra requirements – such as unique identity, secure storage, and random number generation,” said Michael Ho, President of eMemory. “We’re proud to provide our technology to help build highly trusted hardware ecosystems.”