High Assurance Virtualization Engine (HAVEN)

Abstract

Abstract : This report describes the research results of the High Assurance Virtualization ENgine. HAVEN is an FPGA-based virtualization technology that implements much of the traditional hypervisor functionality in FPGAs instead of in software. There are two main results: A Secure Virtual I/O Manager (SIM) and a Secure Memory Manager (SMM). The Secure Virtual I/O Manager implements a virtual PCI controller along with multiple virtual Network Interface Cards (NIC) in conjunction with independent data buffers on a single FPGA. The CPU sees multiple NIC even though there is only one true physical card. The SMM registers a memory range with the CPU and ensures that all memory managed by the SMM is encrypted and only decrypted when it is moved to the CPU cache.