Secure Data Authentication in Space Communications by High-Efficient AES-CMAC Core in Space-Grade FPGA

Latest technological improvements and investments from government agencies and private companies pushed to the limits the requirements related to both data rate speed and security of the communication links in space applications. The high volume of data and the continuous integration of services opened the path to hackers for new and increasingly diffused cyberattacks. Governmental agencies are attempting to stem this problem by issuing and updating accordingly a series of reports and standards through the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS). In this work, we present the implementation of an Advanced Encryption Standard—Cipher-based Message Authentication Code (AES-CMAC) core on space-grade FPGAs, that is compliant with the latest CSSDS security standards and outperforms the state-of-the-art in terms of resource efficiency.