IoT security MCU features Arm PSA certification

By Majeed Ahmad, contributing writer

Cypress Semiconductor has unveiled a secure version of its PSoC 6 family of microcontrollers (MCUs) to bolster data protection in internet of things (IoT) designs. It comes pre-integrated with system-level security software that facilitates an isolated root-of-trust with true attestation and provisioning services.

The PSoC 64 MCUs feature the Arm Platform Security Architecture (PSA) certification scheme that integrates a secure Trusted Firmware-M (TF-M) implementation into the Arm Mbed OS open-source embedded operating system. The PSA certification encompasses threat models, security analyses, and hardware and firmware architecture.

Designing secure IoT devices is not easy because it requires skills spanning the application, system, and hardware layers of an embedded system, said Sudhir Gopalswamy, executive vice president of the Microcontrollers and Connectivity Division at Cypress. The PSoC 64 MCU aims to free developers from these tasks so that they can focus on their end-product differentiation.

The PSoC 64 security MCU delivers a pre-configured secure execution environment that supports the system software of various IoT platforms, providing TLS authentication, secure storage, and secure firmware management. It also includes a rich device-to-cloud application development environment that is aided by the company’s ModusToolbox suite.

Cypress’s ModusToolbox suite allows designers to select the system firmware of secure IoT platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Arm Pelion, and Alibaba and then start developing their application. Next, they can configure and verify their secure boot images.

That makes PSoC 64 MCUs highly suitable for cloud connectivity that mandates protection of user data and trustworthy firmware updates. Cypress is targeting these security MCUs at personal health-care devices, medical and chronic disease management equipment, and home security solutions.

Samples of the PSoC 64 secure MCUs with SecureBoot will be available in the first quarter of 2019, followed by additional variations in the second quarter.