The IP has been developed to address the evolving security needs of Ethernet networks, especially low and high-speed Ethernet that’s used in cloud, data centre, 5G, industrial, and automotive networks.
This fully compliant solution is intended to enhance Ethernet Layer 2 security, focusing on port and data privacy as specified in IEEE 802.1AEdk-2023, and supplements the existing MACsec capabilities of authentication, confidentiality, integrity, and replay protection.
The MAC Privacy Protection IP adds encryption to MAC addresses; this prevents the association of MAC addresses to particular devices, limiting an attacker from tracking interactions between particular nodes or network-based services.
The IP also adds padding and scheduled transmission to Ethernet frames, which prevents the correlation of Ethernet frame sizes and their transmission timing with particular network applications or with the details of those applications.
Comcores’ MAC Privacy Protection IP core allows multiple privacy mapping rules for traffic differentiation and it supports both individual frame protection (Privacy Frame Processing) and express/preemptable frame protection (Privacy Channel Processing).
The IP is designed for seamless interfacing with Comcores’ or third-party MACsec, MAC, PCS, and TSN Switch IPs. It can be delivered with 8-bit and 64-bit AXI-S input and output data interfaces.
