Multi-Tenant Cloud Architectures Utilizing FPGAs: Security Challenges, Design Methodologies, and Proposed Paradigms
Published 2025-10-31
Keywords
- Cloud security,
- FPGA,
- multi-tenancy,
- trusted execution environment
How to Cite
Copyright (c) 2025 Dr. Arjun Mehta

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Abstract
As cloud computing continues its rapid ascent, the integration of reconfigurable hardware such as Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) into multi-tenant cloud infrastructures presents both tremendous opportunities and formidable security challenges. This paper synthesizes contemporary academic and technical literature to examine the underlying threats, architectural solutions, and trust models in FPGA-augmented cloud systems. We analyze attack vectors including side-channel leakage, remote power analysis, thermal covert channels, and hardware-level tampering, as documented in seminal works. In response, we propose a conceptual methodology integrating hardware isolation, trusted execution environments, netlist-level obfuscation, self-attestation, and secure resource management to achieve robust security in multi-tenant environments. Through an in-depth theoretical analysis and comparative assessment of existing designs, we outline a comprehensive architecture that balances performance, flexibility, and security. Our findings highlight design trade‑offs, limitations of current approaches, and future research directions including improved attestation protocols and dynamic isolation mechanisms.
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