Maxim's Most Secure, Single-Chip Protection for Financial Terminals

As a single-chip secure microcontroller, the MAX32590 is a major advance over prior designs that required numerous additional discrete components for financial terminals. The MAX32590 has more connectivity options than competitive designs, and its improved security features comply with the industry’s newest security requirements. External memory encryption and integrity checking both simplify system integration and provide better IP protection and stronger overall protection against attacks. The high level of integration shrinks design size and significantly lowers implementation costs. A full financial-terminal reference design based on the MAX32590 dramatically hastens the design time to market.

Key Advantages:

•High integration reduces cost: an ARM926 core is capable of video playback; dual external memory controllers; extended connectivity options including a 10/100 Ethernet MAC and a USB host and device controller.

•Shorter time to market: a financial terminal reference design provides a PCI-PTS 3.1 preapproved, fully functioning, plug-and-play financial terminal that runs a secure Linux BSP.

•Protects the external memories: unique, on-the-fly external memory encryption and integrity checking.

•High levels of integrated security: 24kB AES user-encryptable NVSRAM and 256-bit flip-flop key storage with instant erase capability upon tampering; dynamic sensor and environmental sensor controllers for intrusion detection; hardware cryptographic engines; and a public key-based secure bootloader.

“Designers of financial terminals must manage an ever increasing number of security, connectivity, and multimedia requirements,” said Dany Nativel, Senior Business Manager for Maxim Integrated’s Security Products. “Maxim’s new secure microcontroller and reference design make their work much easier because the MAX32590 already integrates all the necessary functions for the highest levels of security.”