New Microchip Secure Element Solution to Expedite Onboarding and Provisioning for Any Size IoT

Semiconductor provider Microchip Technology recently announced a new security offering called Trust Platform for its CryptoAuthentication Integrated Circuits (ICs)—small devices that include hardware-based secure storage. The aim is to get Internet of Things (IoT) deployments, both large and small, up and running in a matter of hours, rather than days, and at affordable prices that will also appeal to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).  

Microchip is aiming to tackle a real bottleneck in the IoT security market. Identifying and authenticating devices is often a technical and expensive headache for IoT deployers, and often out of reach for smaller outfits with limited resources. There are few simple and easy to use solutions in the market, but the firm is offering a credible platform for smaller-sized deployments that may not command an additional US$100,000 for key provisioning services.

Trust Platform is a three-tier offering that provides secure elements that are pre-provisioned (Trust&GO), pre-configured (TrustFLEX), or fully customizable (TrustCUSTOM), depending on customer need. An associated software development tool called the Trust Platform Design Suite form part of the package and aim to facilitate onboarding, programming, and provisioning.

There are two key innovations that Microchip is pushing with this new platform. The first is with Trust&GO, which offers pre-configured and pre-provisioned devices with encryption keys and generic certificates for thumbprint authentication, which are algorithm-generated strings designed to properly identify said certificates. It’s akin to a plug and play offering, which can expedite a number of steps at the provisioning and onboarding level. Trust&GO provides template code examples for a number of the most common deployment scenarios on popular cloud, notably for Amazon Web Services (AWS) IoT authentication, Microsoft Azure IoT Hub authentication, and Google IoT authentication. Further, two templates are provided for LoRa and third-party Transport Layer Security authentication. By providing the keys and certificates already embedded in the devices at manufacturing, Trust&GO effectively cuts out the onerous and often technically challenging aspects of key provisioning and onboarding, enabling a shorter Time to Market (TTM) through the selection of ready-made templates. The other two options (TrustFLEX and TrustCUSTOM), allow for greater levels of customization, should the client wish to provision or configure the CryptoAuthentication ICs on their end, with the latter being the standard default scenario in most provisioning cases (and not just with Microchip). 

The second innovation is with the Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ), which for the Trust&GO, is only 10 units. This is significant in that the standard market threshold for key provisioning is usually around 100,000. By lowering the MOQ to only 10 units including provisioing, Microchip brings secure key provisioning and cloud authentication solutions to the oft-unaddressed market of small to mid-sized companies with modest IoT deployments. The price per unit is also highly appealing, with the various models pricing around US$1.20-$1.40 including certificates, and development tools at US$13 and $14. Together, both of these aspects of the Trust Platform opens up key provisioning to a much wider Total Addressable Market (TAM).

Microchip is doing the whole key-injection piece in-house, and not outsourcing it to any third-party provider, enabling it to keep costs down that can then be transferred to clients and also secure the manufacturing supply chain. Finally, the obtention of public keys and certificates is made easy as well for clients, who simply need to log into their customer account where they purchased the device and download a manifest file with all the information (at least for Trust&GO).

TrustFLEX and TrustCUSTOM will appeal to those outfits who prefer more (or full) customization . Microchip provides the necessary tools, which still makes it relatively easy to provision the devices with the client. If successful, Microchip’s Trust Platform should pave the way for greater adoption on the key provisioning front in the IoT market. Other semiconductor providers, as well as certification authorities pivoting toward the IoT, will undoubtedly feel the pressure from such an offering, and will likely be watching the firm closely.