Participate in the Pavona Project
The Pavona Project encourages participation from anyone interested in secure and modular open-source hardware and software development.
To sustainably support a strong ecosystem, diverse contributors from commercial, academic and non-profit organizations, large and small, are all welcome in the collaboration.
The announcements@pavona.org mailing list provides timely and important announcements from the project. Please join to stay informed about the Pavona Project.
The pavona@pavona.org mailing list is the project’s main technical and open forum to discuss the project’s execution. Please use this for deep technical discussions or asking questions to the community’s experts.
The info@pavona.org mailing list is available for people to reach out with inquiries about the project. The Pavona Project is happy to field any questions, no matter how big or small.
Security disclosures are extremely important to the health and quality of the Pavona Project. If you are a researcher or someone who discovered a vulnerability, please reach out to security-disclosures@pavona.org.
The Pavona Project’s source code repository can be found here: https://github.com/pavona/pavona
The documentation lives within the repository. Rendered introductory documents to aid in working with the Pavona Project include:
What is Pavona?
Pavona is an open-source silicon ecosystem offering flexible, secure, tapeout-proven IP blocks for implementation in your next silicon product. Pavona IP is suitable for roots of trust, microcontrollers, mobile SoCs, datacenter chips, and much more.
How do I download Pavona?
Download the latest release from GitHub at https://github.com/pavona/pavona/releases.
How do I use Pavona?
Once you have obtained the latest release, you can read the Getting Started guide to set up your system. The easiest way is to start by testing one of Pavona's reference designs. From there, you can customize the hardware and software, use its high-quality IP blocks, or push a top-level design through ASIC or FPGA synthesis.
Is Pavona free to use?
Yes! Pavona is free to download and permissively licensed under the Apache 2.0 license.
Do I need special hardware to use Pavona?
You do not need an FPGA or other special hardware to use Pavona. Most of Pavona can be explored with Verilator simulation (as well as commercial EDA simulators). Researchers and hobbyists who want faster emulation or want to do power analysis will want to set up an FPGA environment.
What is a top-level design?
A top-level design combines multiple IPs into a system suited for a particular purpose.
If a top-level design is meant to be a root of trust in an SoC, it would have a core, cryptographic accelerators, and means to communicate to the broader SoC (e.g. mailboxes and DMA engines).
On the other hand, a discrete root-of-trust might have low-speed peripherals (e.g. USB, SPI TPM interfaces) that the integrated RoT would lack.
Pavona uses top-level designs to organize development around features that many people care about. Pavona CI carries out regressions against top-level designs to ensure compatibility and stability throughout the ecosystem.
While it's easiest to start from a reference top-level design, you are encouraged to create your own top-level designs. Pavona IP is designed to be broadly compatible with other silicon projects and can exist separately from a Pavona top-level.
How is Pavona different from existing open-source specifications/implementations?
Pavona is a configurable library purpose-built for flexibility and composability.
Existing specifications/implementations are focused on monolithic top-level designs for their respective hyperscaler uses.
Pavona’s blocks are for everything from the smallest IoT to the largest mobile or datacenter processors.
They can be used to meet specifications or to design anything you want - even beyond the root of trust!
Do I have to be a member to contribute?
Non-members are encouraged to contribute. Non-members will have to sign a CLA (corporate or individual) in order for the project to accept contributions. Please reach out to info@pavona.org if you are interested in contributing as a non-member. If you are interested in becoming a member please visit the Governance page for more details.
What does it mean that Pavona is hosted by GlobalPlatform?
Pavona is an independent open-source project supported and hosted by GlobalPlatform, a neutral 501(c)(6) non-profit organization. The Pavona Governing Board hosted by GlobalPlatform is responsible for the administration of the project. To find more about the Pavona Project’s management, please read up on its Governance.
