INSIDE sampling 0.13-micron family of EMV smart card MCUs

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, FRANCE: INSIDE Contactless, a leader in semiconductor solutions for secure transactions and digital identity, has started sampling new versions of its popular AT90SC secure EMV smart card microcontrollers based on 0.13-micron process technology.

With performance and other improvements to the cryptographic functions, the new family of microcontrollers offers smart card manufacturers the higher level of security they require to achieve certification while maintaining full software compatibility for firmware re-use, and delivers cost improvements to enable more competitive secure products.

“When developing our new 0.13-micron secure products, it was very important that our smart card customers be able to preserve their investment in the firmware they’ve already developed for use with our existing 0.15-micron devices, so software compatibility was a paramount concern as we made the improvements to the hardware security and other functions,” said Hervé Roche, marketing manager, payment business line at INSIDE Contactless.

“The result is a new family of compatible products with state-of-the-art security guaranteed to achieve EMVCo and other security certifications.”

All the 0.13-micron AT90SC secure EMV smart card microcontrollers are certification-targeted for EMVCo, Common Criteria EAL5+, ZKA and FIPS 140-2. Security features include dedicated hardware for protection against SPA/DPA/SEMA/DEMA attacks; advanced protection against physical attack, including active shield; environmental protection systems; voltage, frequency and temperature monitors; light protection and secure memory management/access protection.

The 0.13-micron family of AT90SC low-power, high-performance microcontrollers is based on the secureAVR 8-/16-bit RISC secure processor core, providing access to the powerful instruction set of this widely used core.

The AT90SC devices are available in a variety of chip profiles with various configurations of EEPROM, ROM and RAM and advanced cryptographic coprocessors (DES/TDES/AES/RSA/DSA/ECC), and all feature a host of security features designed to protect device assets.

In addition to the embedded ROM, the AT90SC microcontrollers include high density EEPROM able to be mapped in the code space, allowing parts of the program memory to be reprogrammed in-system. This technology, combined with the versatile 8/16-bit RISC CPU on a monolithic chip, provides a highly flexible and cost-effective solution suitable for a wide range of smart card payment applications.

The new 0.13-micron family of AT90SC secure EMV smart card microcontrollers is available now in sample quantities. Production quantities are expected to be available in the first quarter of 2011.