FORTRESS Explained #6

FORTRESS Explained #6:

What is hardware/software codesign?

Hardware/software (HW/SW) codesign is the practice of concurrently designing and optimizing hardware accelerators and software stacks as a unified system. Rather than building rigid silicon first and forcing software to compensate or relying purely on software at the expense of performance, codesign strategically partitions workload across both domains to balance speed, memory, energy efficiency, and adaptability.

Why does this matter for post-quantum cryptography?

Post-quantum cryptographic (PQC) algorithms involve complex mathematical operations, larger key sizes, and significantly higher computational overhead than classical schemes. Executing PQC entirely in software can create severe performance bottlenecks on resource-constrained embedded systems, whereas pure fixed hardware lacks the agility required as standards evolve and algorithms require updates. Codesign bridges this gap by offloading heavy primitives to custom hardware while keeping higher-level protocol logic and update pathways in software.

In FORTRESS, we leverage hardware/software codesign to build a scalable, high-performance Root of Trust and hybrid secure boot architecture. By co-developing dedicated hardware accelerators for intensive cryptographic operations alongside optimized firmware for orchestration and key management, FORTRESS achieves low latency and high throughput without sacrificing flexibility. The result is a Root of Trust engineered to deliver strong, post-quantum security in real-world deployment scenarios.