Lowest-Power ChipDNA PUF Technology from Analog Devices Secures Embedded Devices from Edge to Cloud

By Taryn Engmark

Associate Editor

Embedded Computing Design

September 15, 2021

News

Lowest-Power ChipDNA PUF Technology from Analog Devices Secures Embedded Devices from Edge to Cloud

Cryptographic controller provides 30x lower power and industrial-grade protection for battery-powered devices in the harshest, most security-critical environments.

Analog Devices, Inc. unveiled the ultra-low power MAXQ1065 cryptographic controller featuring its proprietary ChipDNA™ physically unclonable functionality (PUF) technology, which offers protection for edge-to-cloud Internet of Things (IoT) nodes, including medical and wearable devices, against invasive security attacks. The security co-processor provides 30x lower power when compared to similar products and its extended lifetime and operating range make it suitable for long-term deployments in harsh environments.

The MAXQ1065 security co-processor provides turnkey cryptographic functions for root-of-trust, mutual authentication, data confidentiality and integrity, secure boot, secure firmware update, and secure communications. It includes standard algorithms for key exchange and bulk encryption, or complete transport layer security (TLS) support. The device integrates 8KB of secure storage for user data, keys, certificates, and counters with user-defined access control and life cycle management functionality for IoT equipment.

The MAXQ1065's low power consumption and wide operating range makes it suitable for battery-powered applications, and the very small footprint and low pin count enable easy integration into medical and wearable devices. The MAXQ1065 life cycle management allows flexible access control rules during the major life cycle stages of the device and end equipment. The MAXQ1065 is also supported by Analog Devices’ secure key preprogramming service for customers who want keys, data, and life cycle state initialized prior to shipment to a contract manufacturer.

MAXQ1065 Security Co-Processor Features and Benefits

  • Edge-to-cloud security: The MAXQ1065 includes a TLS/DTLS 1.2 command set built upon hardware-based ECDSA, ECDHE and AES for authentication, key exchange, and secure communication.
  • Lowest power: The MAXQ1065 operates at 100nA during power down mode.