The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) last week said it selected two research teams, one led by Northrop Grumman [NOC] and the other headed by Synopsys [SNPS], to develop designs for integrating security into semiconductors and their supply chains.

The Automatic Implementation of Secure Silicon (AISS) program “aims to automate the process of incorporating scalable defense mechanisms into chip designs, while allowing designers to explore chip economics versus security trade-offs based on the expected application and intent while maximizing designer productivity,” DARPA said on May 27.

Northrop Grumman’s team includes IBM [IBM] and the Universities of Arkansas and Florida. Synopsys’ team includes Arm, Boeing [BA], the Florida Institute for Cybersecurity Research at the Univ. of Florida, Texas A&M Univ., UltraSoC, and the Univ. of California, San Diego.

“Northrop Grumman’s secure electronic design and integration expertise will enable the goals of the DARPA AISS program to automate the security countermeasure development process during chip design,” Dr. Nicholas Paraskevopoulos, chief technology officer and sector vice president for Emerging Capabilities Development at Northrop Grumman, said in a statement last week. “Our design tools will enable the development of secure and trusted integrated circuits with reduced cost. These innovative approaches coupled with our discriminating technology will support the design of high-performance microchips and ensure their trust in future defense electronics.”

A DARPA spokesperson said the total expected funding for the program over four years is $75 million.