A Cryptographic Hardware Engineering Course based on FPGA and Security Analysis Equipment

Cryptographic Hardware Engineering (CHE) is an emerging field that amalgamates cryptography principles with hardware design and implementation. It plays an increasingly important role as secure and trustworthy computing and communication is needed in all applications. In order to introduce CHE into undergraduate curriculum to prepare the next generation workforce, students must have a solid theoretical foundation in cryptography, be proficient in digital circuit design, and have access to commercial design tools and equipment. In this paper, we report our experience in developing and teaching a CHE course for junior students. The course consists of three components that are complementary to each other: digital circuits and FPGA design fundamentals, hardware implementation of cryptographic algorithms, and security analysis of cryptographic hardware. Through this course, students get a good comprehension of CHE principles and gain hands-on experience in secure cryptographic hardware design and analysis.