SAN JOSE, USA: Atmel Corp. recently announced its Aris++ development kit with Crypto Evaluation Studio tool suite for the design and evaluation of counterfeit-proofing embedded applications that are protected by hardware-based encryption and mutual authentication.

The Aris++ kit includes a stand-alone application development board with Atmel's 8 Kbit CryptoMemory IC, a CryptoCompanion chip for plug-and-play host-side configuration, and an AT90USB1287 AVR flash microcontroller for application development. The board has an LCD display, joy stick, push buttons and LEDs. JTAG, USB, and serial ports provide extensive debug, connectivity, and power options.

The Embedded Crypto Evaluation Studio in Aris++ provides a menu-driven, graphical user interface for CryptoMemory configuration and testing. Aris++ includes development libraries that implement all host cryptographic operations required for secure communication on a variety of different microcontroller platforms.

The Aris++ Embedded Crypto Solutions CD also provides comprehensive information pertaining to CryptoMemory and CryptoCompanion ICs, including datasheets, white papers, application examples and much more. Applications developed with Aris++ may be ported to any microcontroller platform.

Increasingly, hackers are illegally using embedded system IP to create and market product clones. This is a common problem in GPS navigators, cell phones, settop boxes and game consoles, to name a few. One of the most effective means of protecting embedded systems that are prone to counterfeiting, firmware theft and the violation of licensing agreements is through the implementation of cryptographic hardware security, such as that provided by CryptoMemory.

Developing such systems without the Aris++ kit and CryptoCompanion chip requires engineers to develop expertise on cryptography and cryptographic algorithms and manually write software to implement systems security. The libraries that come with the Aris++ kit contain all the required cryptographic functions in a ready-to-use form. Embedded Crypto Evaluation Studio walks engineers through the security-configuration process via check boxes and walk-through menus. No coding is required.

The complete embedded application and its security features can be fully demonstrated, evaluated, and tested using the LCD screen, joy stick, buttons and LEDs on the Aris++ development board, without loading any software on a PC. With the JTAG port, engineers can easily detect syntactic and semantic errors in their software and have greater visibility into the workings of their applications. Aris++ is fully compatible with Atmel's low cost JTAG-ICE MkII debug platform.