[[intro]]

== Introduction

This document describes the Confidential VM Extension (CoVE) interface for
a scalable Trusted Execution Environment(TEE) for hardware virtual-machine-based
workloads on RISC-V-based platforms. This CoVE interface specification enables
application workloads that require confidentiality to reduce the Trusted
Computing Base (TCB) to a minimal TCB, specifically, keeping the host OS/VMM
and other software outside the TCB. The proposed specification supports an
architecture that can be used for Application and Virtual Machine workloads,
while minimizing changes to the RISC-V ISA and privilege modes.
