MCU provides IoT devices with enhanced security

2nd April 2015

Toshiba

Siobhan O'Gorman

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Datasheet

An MCU, designed for use in secure systems control, has been introduced by Toshiba Electronics Europe. The TMPM46BF10FG, which expands the company’s existing TX04 range and adds a selection of enhanced security features, is an ARM Cortex-M4F based MCU. Suitable applications include IoT devices, energy management systems, sensor technology and industrial equipment.

Users of secure communications control systems increasingly require mass memory data for firmware generation management, failure analysis and high-precision consecutive data storage. These requirements for high-level security features, such as tamper detection and information concealment, are met by the MCU. The IC also meets the need to reduce the number of parts on system circuit board parts by supporting large capacity memory.

Based around an ARM Cortex-M4F core, with a maximum operating frequency of 120MHz, the TMPM46BF10FG incorporates 1024KB of flash memory and 514KB SRAM required for secure communications control, four types of security circuits for network communications. The MCU also integrates an SLC NAND flash memory controller and 4- and 8-bit error correction circuitry that supports memory expansion with 1Gb to 4Gb SLC NAND flash memory chips.

To provide additional levels of safety, the IC includes a 16-channel interrupt input and a clock-independent watchdog timer, which operates separately from the system clock, improving the safety of system functions. In the case of a system clock malfunction, the watchdog timer is still capable of detecting errors.

The TMPM46BF10FG incorporates a true random number generator (SP800-90C standard) through the combination of a random entropy seed generation circuit and Hash-DRGB created by the secure hash processor and software programme. This meets the robust standards of security that are required in network communications. The hardware based AES encryption/decryption process meets FIPS180-4 and FIPS197 standards and reduces the load on the CPU, in combination with a random seed generation circuit, and a multiple-length arithmetic used to calculate elliptic curves for asymmetric ciphers.

The MCU features direct memory access (32-channel), a 12-bit ADC (eight-channel), 16-bit timer (eight-channel), SPP (three-channel), SIO/UART (four-channel), full UART (two-channel) I2C (three-channel), with an operating voltage of 2.7 to 3.6V. Housed in an LQFP100 package, the IC measures just 14x14mm, with a 0.5mm pitch.