On the architecture of secure software defined radios

This paper examines the rationale, properties and shortcomings of the prevailing ldquored-blackrdquo architecture for secure software defined radios (SDR). To address shortcomings, a computer security process is formalized that leads to a provably secure SDR architectural framework. Although an example of a secure architecture is discussed, the focus is to explore an architectural design strategy to achieve guaranteed secure operation. The result is more of an architectural framework with remarkable potential relative to previous approaches, including enabling deterministic development, operational friendliness, high performance, and affordability through strategic use of hardware to strengthen and simplify the enforcement of the security policy instead of simply trusting software.