Type of processor

As of 2020's, it is basically a cheap/slow/simple CPU used in embedded system applications.

It is interpreted. It actually implements a Python (-like ?) interpreter that can run on a microcontroller. See e.g.: Compile MicroPython code for Micro Bit locally.

As a result, it is both very convenient, as it does not require a C toolchain to build for, but also very slow and produces larger images.

The first thing you must understand is the Classic RISC pipeline with a concrete example.

The good:

The bad:

The good:

The bad:

Basically a synonym for central processing unit nowadays: electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/44740/whats-the-difference-between-a-microprocessor-and-a-cpu

The hole point of Intel SGX is to allow users to be certain that a certain code was executed in a remove server that they rent but don't own, like AWS. Even if AWS wanted to be malicious, they would still not be able to modify your read your input, output nor modify the program.

The way this seems to work is as follows.

Each chip has its own unique private key embedded in the chip. There is no way for software to read that private key, only the hardware can read it, and Intel does not know that private key, only the corrsponding public one. The entire safety of the system relies on this key never ever leaking to anybody, even if they have the CPU in their hands. A big question is if there are physical forensic methods, e.g. using electron microscopes, that would allow this key to be identified.

Then, using that private key, you can create enclaves.

Once you have an enclave, you can load a certain code to run into the enclave.

Then, non-secure users can give inputs to that enclave, and as an output, they get not only the output result, but also a public key certificate based on the internal private key.

This certificates states:and that can then be verified online on Intel's website, since they keep a list of public keys. This service is called attestation.

So, if the certificate is verified, you can be certain that a your input was ran by a specific code.

Additionally:

It basically replaces a bunch of discrete digital components with a single chip. So you don't have to wire things manually.

Particularly fundamental if you would be putting those chips up a thousand cell towers for signal processing, and ever felt the need to reprogram them! Resoldering would be fun, would it? So you just do a over the wire update of everything.

Vs a microcontroller: same reason why you would want to use discrete components: speed. Especially when you want to do a bunch of things in parallel fast.

One limitation is that it only handles digital electronics: electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/25525/are-there-any-analog-fpgas There are some analog analogs, but they are much more restricted due to signal loss, which is exactly what digital electronics is very good at mitigating.

Example: github.com/cirosantilli/cpp-cheat/blob/d18a11865ac105507d036f8f12a457ad9686a664/cuda/inc.cu

Official hello world: github.com/ROCm/HIP-Examples/blob/ff8123937c8851d86b1edfbad9f032462c48aa05/HIP-Examples-Applications/HelloWorld/HelloWorld.cpp

Tested on Ubuntu 23.10 with P14s:TODO fails with:

Generic Ubuntu install bibliograpy: