CPU Tech Corporate Questions and Answers

Who is CPU Tech and what do you do?
CPU Tech is a fabless semiconductor company with industry leading solutions to address the need for trusted and secure computing, along with compatible electronics optimization and modernization. The Acalis® secure processor family directly addresses Government mandates for anti-tamper technology. CPU Tech has been utilizing this technology and its advanced tools in a proven methodology to reduce size, weight and power (SWAP), mitigate obsolescence, and improve performance, capacity and diagnostic capabilities of programs in the commercial and defense industries. Our advanced tools include the SystemLab PS® platform simulator, which allows engineers to simulate and validate large-scale electronics (i.e., complete platforms) at real-time speeds with extraordinary visibility and control.

• CPU Tech is a veteran owned, privately held company founded in 1989 with headquarters in Pleasanton, CA and regional offices in Reston, VA and accross the country.

Acalis®

What is Acalis?
Acalis is a family of secure processors developed by CPU Tech, which directly addresses the requirement for trusted and secure computing and communications in many industries. The first member of the family to enter the merchant market is the Acalis CPU872. The Acalis name covers multi-core devices across multiple device geometries and may contain additional device geometries in the future.

How is Acalis different from other anti-tamper devices?
Acalis is unique because it takes the approach of protecting software and systems with hardware.  This approach is a must according to several agencies and top security experts. Following a number of well-publicized studies, it is generally accepted that software alone is insufficient protection.

What are the strategic benefits in developing systems with higher levels of processing security?
When developing a data processing system for either the Federal Government or a commercial company, it is becoming more and more likely that you will be asked about security features and capabilities. By providing the customer with specific ways to protect critical IP in the system from reverse engineering, counterfeiting, and cloning, the system provider has the opportunity to both protect the customer base and increase sales margin. In addition, the capability to authenticate your designs and differentiate them from counterfeits will substantially protect and promote your brand value in the marketplace.

What is 5200.39? What are the deliverables within 5200.39 and timeframes?
5200.39 is a Department of Defense Instruction issued on July 16, 2008, which mandates agencies and DoD contractors to:

• Protect systems from threats such as tampering, counterfeiting and theft
• Mitigate the exploitation of Critical Program Information (CPI)
• Extend operational effectiveness of military systems using system assurance and anti-tamper strategies
• Minimize the chance that the DoD’s war fighting capability will be impaired due to compromised components being integrated into DoD systems through the supply chain or system design
• Deliverable elements, such as the identification of system CPI and the elements of the Program Protection Plan (PPP) are left to the discretion of the acquisition agency or Program Office.

I have not heard of 5200.39; how does it affect my DoD system?
If you are a defense contractor or sub-contractor, your future bids are subject to review and reconstitution by the DoD, if they do not conform to the new mandate. CPI is often distributed throughout systems, and so protecting it may fall under the responsibility of many sub-systems suppliers.

In which trade shows does CPU Tech participate?
CPU Tech will be participating at Embedded Systems Conference, SAE World Congress, DoD Anti-Tamper Conference, etc. For a complete list, see www.cputech.com.

Modernization

How do you define modernization?
We define modernization as the process of upgrading the electronics of a complex system to current, state-of-the-art design and components while maintaining complete compatibility with all of the existing software. This software often accounts for up to 85% of the complete system costs and preserving it is critical to keeping costs down while ensuring that the new system will behave identical to the previous system.

What is CPU Tech’s competitive advantage in modernization?
CPU Tech has been able to execute modernization activities on several major military platforms, while simultaneously investing in reusable tools for system simulation. This makes it possible to quickly assess task scope, and define the “final state” of a modernized system early in the process. This offers a low risk, cost controlled reliable system modernization process.

How do you make sure the new modernized system is compatible with the old one?
System compatibility is the role of CPU Tech’s SystemLab PS (see questions below). CPU Tech has been using SystemLab PS for a variety of system modernization efforts. It is designed to create multiple regression scenarios of entire vehicle systems and subsystems and demonstrate their interoperability in a visual environment.

Can you provide examples or references?
Demonstrations of system modernization capabilities for the Air Force F-16 aircraft and the Army Bradley Combat System are available as references for designing and scoping your own system modernization effort.

SystemLab PS®

What is SystemLab PS?
SystemLab PS is the first ever, complete vehicle (large-scale platform), real time electronics simulator. It not only simulates the entire vehicle electronics, running actual system software in real time, but it also gives you control and visibility into every wire, every memory, every processor and every line of code.

• SystemLab PS allows regressions to be run on entire vehicle test suites and on all derivatives of the vehicle. It also allows directed or random fault testing to see how your vehicle behaves in case of electronic failures.
• Because it runs in real time, it can be configured to interoperate with actual hardware, simulation environments, and test equipment. This opens the door to the virtual electronics working with the rest of the virtual automotive world (physical, visual and mechanical). This system interoperability was demonstrated when CPU Tech’s virtual Bradley Combat System interoperated with the BAE system integration lab.

What makes SystemLab PS different from simulation solutions?
Existing simulation solutions today are too small, too slow, or too high level. They offer either high level models only approximating the behavior or more detailed models running very slowly. In either case, they can only model small parts of a vehicle.

• SystemLab PS allows engineers to complete every electronic detail of a virtual vehicle. Automotive engineers have been simulating many other aspects of the vehicle for many years.  However, the simulation of electronics has been lagging in these areas. SystemLab PS not only allows you to simulate the electronics of the entire vehicle at real-time speeds, but its high fidelity lets you run the actual system code (operating systems, applications, diagnostics and test code) with visibility into every wire, every memory, every register and every line of code.

What are the biggest advantages of SystemLab PS?
There are actually a number of very distinct benefits that organizations will realize. First is “time to market” or “time to field”. This is realized because of the real-time performance and large-scale capacity. Next would be what several customers have referred to as a breakthrough in the visibility and control now possible into any and all parts of the design.

• Finally, if you want to make sure everything works before you build it, the advantage of SystemLab PS is simply that “the model is the design”. The accuracy and the fidelity of the simulation offered by the SystemLab Platform Simulator are unprecedented. In other words, CPU Tech provides an executable specification that can make sure the individual systems work before and after they are developed and integrated.

Does SystemLab run on any computer?
Today the SystemLab client runs on Windows-based computers. Only our SystemLab client can work with the SystemLab PS.

How long does it take to get the SystemLab PS up and going in a production environment?
This depends on what is modeled, how complex it is and who does the modeling. When we do the modeling of a platform, it can take between 3-9 months. As our customers get trained, their productivity should match or exceed ours.