Securing computer systems is perhaps one of the
key responsibilities of modern software architects, as well as
hardware designers. The research on security issues is getting
more important, as the number of embedded and networked
computing systems is increasing constantly. Due to strict restrictions
and requirements, only special software applications
are used in security-critical embedded systems. Consequently,
it is necessary to secure those software applications passively
by the use of a secure processor architecture.
In this paper, we discuss a hardware implementation of a
secure processor architecture, as well as adaptations of an existing
SPARC V8 processor for the embedded usage in safeguard
ecosystems. The main advantage of our concept is the
compatibility to new and legacy software applications and
hardware architectures. When compared to existing software
and hardware solutions, our implementation will result in a
noticeable increase in security of embedded computer systems.
National and international support programmes, like the
European Union framework program IST-FP6, are globally
interested in embedded systems security. Moreover, our project
is funded by the Austrian Ministry for Technology and
Innovation.