All in one: The First Microcontroller with Secure Subsystem and ARM TrustZone Technology

May 27, 2022

News

With security threats on the rise and attackers seemingly one step ahead of developers causing product development challenges in IoT, Microchip sought change.

The need for modernized embedded security along with low power consumption for longer battery life has brought Microchip Technology Inc. to announce the release of the industry's first microcontroller (MCU) to combine a secure subsystem and Arm TrustZone technology in a single package.

The PIC32CM LS60 integrates Microchip's Trust Platform secure subsystem while making it easier to develop end products using one microcontroller rather than two or more semiconductor chips

With IoT continues to expand at a record pace, it is a must that edge devices be secured with high standards of protection. According to Microchip, “the PIC32CM LS60, with its combination of easy-to-use Arm TrustZone technology and the Common Criteria Joint Interpretation Library (JIL) “high” rated Trust Platform secure subsystem, enables developers to implement industry-proven security practices and countermeasures to protect against a wide class of known remote and physical attacks. These types of designs are supported with tools such as MPLAB® Code Configurator (MCC) TrustZone Manager and the Trust Platform Design Suite to simplify the configuration of the secure subsystem. The Microchip Trust Platform provisioning service is available to securely provision keys and certificates.”

 “With its integration of Arm TrustZone technology and Microchip’s secure subsystem in one package, the PIC32CM LS60 is an offering that the market hasn’t seen before,” said Rod Drake vice president of Microchip Technology’s 32-bit MCU business unit. “We believe this MCU’s security, ease of use and low-power operation will be a powerful shift in implementing advanced security technology in IoT applications.”

The PIC32CM LS60 arrives with core-independent SleepWalking peripherals and the Event System. The SleepWalking peripherals keep the core in sleep mode for a prolonged period of time for the reduction of power consumption. It also comes with on-chip analog that includes operational amplifiers (op amps), digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) that can be operated in sleep modes and interfaced with a variety of sensors.

The PIC32CM LS60 is compatible with the MPLAB Data Visualizer and Power Debugger tools that can be used to monitor, analyze, and fine tune power consumption numbers in real-time.

For more information, visit microchipdirect.com.

Chad Cox is the Production Editor at Embedded Computing Design. His responsibilities are centered around content creation, writing and editing, and article research and development. Chad covers industry news and events and is known to interact with various industrial leaders via on-premise visits and online interviews. He is responsible for the digital footprint and dissemination of news via social media posts, advertising creation and the production of newsletters including the Embedded Computing Design’s Daily.

He is well versed in many facets of industrial computing including Edge AI, IoT, Processing, Security, Open Source, and more.

Chad graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a B.A. in Cultural and Analytical Literature and holds a master’s in education.

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