32-bit microcontroller features chip-level security
Microchip announces the new SAM L10 and SAM L11 families of 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs) which address the growing need for security in Internet of Things (IoT) endpoints by protecting against the increasing risk of exposing intellectual property (IP) and sensitive information.
The new MCU families are based on the Arm Cortex-M23 core, with the SAM L11 featuring Arm TrustZone for Armv8-M, a programmable environment that provides hardware isolation between certified libraries, IP and application code.
Microchip enables robust security by including chip-level tamper resistance, secure boot and secure key storage which, when combined with TrustZone technology, protects customer applications from both remote and physical attacks.
Both MCU families offer low power consumption, as well as capacitive touch capability with best-in-class water tolerance and noise immunity. When benchmarked for power consumption, the SAM L10 received a ULPMark score of 405, which is more than 200 per cent better performance than the nearest competitor certified by the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium (EEMBC).
Microchip uses proprietary picoPower technology to provide industry-leading low power consumption in active and all sleep modes.
In addition to TrustZone technology, the SAM L11 security features include an on-board cryptographic module supporting Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), Galois Counter Mode (GCM) and Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA). The secure boot and secure key storage with tamper detection capabilities establish a hardware root of trust. It also offers secure bootloader for secure firmware upgrades.
Microchip has partnered with Trustonic, a member of Microchip’s Security Design Partner Programme, to offer a security solution framework that simplifies implementation of security and enables customers to introduce end products faster. Microchip has also partnered with Secure Thingz and Data I/O Corporation to offer secure provisioning services for SAM L11 customers that have a proven security framework.
Both MCU families offer Microchip’s latest-generation peripheral touch controller for capacitive touch capabilities. Designers can easily add touch interfaces that provide a smooth and efficient user experience in the presence of moisture and noise while maintaining low power consumption.
The touch interface suits the devices to a range of automotive, appliance, medical and consumer human machine interface applications.
The SAM L10 (DM320204) and SAM L11 (DM320205) Xplained Pro evaluation kits are available to kick-start development.
All SAM L10/L11 MCUs are supported by the Atmel Studio 7 integrated development environment, IAR Embedded Workbench, Arm Keil MDK as well as Atmel START, a free online tool to configure peripherals and software for accelerated development.
START also supports TrustZone technology for configuring and deploying secure applications. A power debugger and data analyser tool is available to monitor and analyse power consumption in real-time and fine-tune the consumption numbers on-the-fly to meet application needs.
Microchip’s QTouch modular library 2D touch surface library and QTouch configurator are also available to help simplify touch development.
The SAM L10 and SAM L11 devices are available in a variety of pin counts and package options in volume production quantities.
