Inside Secure (formerly Inside Contactless) has started sampling versions of its AT90SC secure EMV smart card microcontrollers based on 0.13-micron process technology which provide performance and other improvements to the cryptographic functions.

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 MCUs are based on the secureAVR 8-/16-bit RISC secure processor core and 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).

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.
Availability and Pricing

“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 Herve Roche, marketing manager, payment business line at Inside Secure.