The number of connected IoT devices exceeded 46 billion in 2021 and is expected to reach a remarkable 125 billion by 2030. This will shift the semiconductor market significantly as each IoT device requires a processor core to effectively process the enormous amount of data and associated transactions. To make the most out of such market potential, RISC-V architecture has become a new alternative to x86 or ARM for SoC designers, thanks to its open instruction format and low cost.
However, as the IoT market continues to expand, so does the destructiveness of adversarial attacks. The security of connected applications is now an essential element of their design. Connected devices must be able to authenticate one another, ensure safe data transmission, and include secure storage. While the security guidelines of RISC-V are still under development, providing RISC-V users with an effective plug-and-play solution to strengthen the security of SoCs and beyond is critical.