Open Source Network Security, Programming, and Hardware Design

Architecture and Code Description for the Private Island Open Source, FPGA-based Network Processor

Overview of the Private Island project for networking including highlights, goals, and a brief description of the Betsy maker board.

A Description of the Verilog implementation of a soft networked controller implemented for the Private Island open source project

This brief article provides a summary of how we customized our Volitio platform and Private Island open source networking stack to provide a video bridging and control solution for a customer's proprietary camera system

We examine the fields within an Ethernet packet and discuss how they are processed by an open source FPGA network processor.

A review of our Volitio board along with a summary of various Cyclone 10 GX features relevant to the Private Island open source project

Using Ubuntu Linux, we build the RISC-V software tools from their Git repositories and create & verify assembly instructions against the open source ISA specification for an RV32IM core.

We review a new FMC expander prototype that we recently designed & built for the Intel Cyclone 10 GX FPGA Development Kit.

A high level overview of the usage and configuration of the ECP5UM DCU (PCS/SERDES) for Private Island Open Source Project

A summary and concise reference of ECP5UM features and capabilities as applied to the Private Island open source project

Working towards a port of our open source networking project for the Lattice ECP5UM with Yosys on Ubuntu

A description of the open source Verilog source for a SPI Slave implementation used on the Private Island Network Processor Project

Use a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) Bus to access internal FPGA memory including Ethernet packets

Darsena FPGA Development Board for Open Source FPGA-Based Network Security Project

A quick start guide for working with Darsena, the Private Island development board for FPGA-based open source networking

A review of configurations and connector choices for systems that are compatible with an Arduino form factor.

This article describes the demonstration of an open source, FPGA-based Ethernet networking project shown at the Bay Area Maker Faire 2019 in Samtec's booth.

A review of the Arduino UNO and MEGA Power Circuitry and PCB Layout

Take control of your network and obtain unprecedented visibility with this FPGA-based network processor and dual Gigabit Ethernet.

A review of Ethernet Management Bus basics, architecture, and design with the aid of oscilloscope screen shots for FPGA-based open source networking project

The Serial Gigabit Media Independent Interface (SGMII) is a popular Gigabit Ethernet PHY interface, and it holds various advantages over both GMII and RGMII. This article reviews some of the core SGMII concepts with the help of a scope and lab bench examples.

This article reviews some of the core 10Gb Ethernet 10GBASE-R 64B/66B concepts with the help of our Volitio board and a Keysight UXR3034A scope.

We review the steps and connections required to use an FTDI Mini Module as a JTAG programming dongle for both Quartus Pro and Quartus Standard by emulating an Altera USB Blaster III device.

We show how to build OpenOCD from source on Windows 10 using a Cygwin environment. The JTAG controller is an FTDI FT2232H on our Darsena development board for network security.

Example Python code is provided to perform basic remote operations with a Rohde and Schwarz RTO1044 Oscilloscope including waveform capture, display, and FFT.

We review the steps necessary to use OpenOCD with Darsena on Linux. Also, we build OpenOCD from source using its Git repo and run it on an Ubuntu 16.04 system making use of an Eclipse-based IDE.

Although a Lattice programming cable is relatively low cost, there is an even lower cost option available: FTDI FT2232H Mini Module. This tiny module is available for approximately $20 from distributors like Digi-Key and Mouser, and it can be used directly as a programming adapter for Lattice devices (and others) by following the setup described in this article.

Configure a Linux host to act as a DHCP server and assign known IP addressees to the nodes on your network. Configuration and debug tips are provided for both Ubuntu 24.04 and Yocto systems.

For some Python packages, we prefer to work with the Git repos, but we have experienced some issues in setting it up on data center web servers.

Build a custom Yocto image using the powerful NXP LS1046A Freeway Board with Ubuntu 24.04 LTS Linux

We show how to checkout, configure, build, and setup a local Apache HTTP Server on Ubuntu Linux along with configuring it to work locally as a smart HTTP Git server.

Clone and build PostgreSQL Master Branch on Ubuntu Linux 24.04 and use C language or Python to interact with a basic database via the libpq library

Various Notes on Using and Managing a Linux System from the Command Line

A brief review of cloning, building, debugging, and experimenting with the master branch of the OpenSSL project. Includes stepping into the crypto library with GDB.

Iptables enables the blocking & logging of network traffic entering, exiting, or being forwarded across a Linux CPU. This article discusses its configuration and application to protecting surveillance cameras.

We build Squid Version 5 from source (Git) on Ubuntu Linux and show some basic examples on how to use it.

Bare metal / no-stack implementation of ICMP ECHO ( ping ) based on insight from the implementation of ping on Linux

A brief summary of getting started with cgit on Ubuntu Linux along with debugging a segfault we encountered

We review some options and examples for use of tcpdump in network testing and probing.

Various Notes and Examples for Using and Managing a Network from the Linux Command Line

Article discusses a Python3 redirector for Squid for the purpose of filtering content. Example provides a starting point for developing a full content filter / ad blocker

Article discusses using Python with sockets to create and deploy a honey pot for the purpose of detecting malicious activity on a network. A sample Python 3 script is provided.

Use Java to determine whether another host is present and responsive on a network. Two approaches are provided: low level and layer 4, connection oriented. The lower level approach will result in a ping if used with the right permissions.

We provide a simple Python script and examples to model and visualize square and triangle waves with applications to circuit design and test.

Big Tech has had a long history of spying on us. It's in their DNA. If you have your doubts, then review this list of recent evidence.

Federal Government Cybersecurity resources for Vulnerability Databases, Internet Crimes, Cyber Attacks by Foreign Governments, Legal Wire Tapping, and more.

We must stop trusting our private data to untrustworthy devices. This predicament requires us to call for fully open systems including its underlying hardware.

Two simple C/C++ programs are provided that generate and display an 8-bit RAW pixel test pattern. The display program makes use of the OpenCV 4 library.

We show an example of the use of DNF package manager along with supporting notes with our Yocto-built LS1046A Freeway Board development board.

Techniques to accelerate development with the Linux Kernel and related when working with the Yocto Project and an NXP i.MX8 EVK system.

We show how to build the latest NXP Yocto BSP for the NXP MCIMX8M-EVK evaluation kit for the i.MX 8MQuad processor

Tables and a python script to make life a little easier in converting board designs to all metric (mm)

Using the Windows Control Panel, we configure a static IP address for our PC.