AppliedMicro Embeds Trusted Module Security into PacketPro

Applied Micro Circuits Corporation (AppliedMicro) introduced its latest PacketPro Gen2 embedded processor featuring an embedded "SLIMpro" Trusted Management Module (TMM) that enables network equipment manufacturers to hard wired, tamper-proof encryption and authentication capabilities into their devices.



The Trusted Management Module resides in a secure on-chip cryptographic boundary region designed to replace multi-chip solutions which are vulnerable to attack. AppliedMicro said its SLIMpro TMM not only hides cryptographic keys, passwords and digital certifications, but also makes its possible to include a Secure Boot capability in networking gear. The embedded TMM decrypts and authenticates software used during reboots, or to decrypt and authenticate secure firmware updates or new software images. This effectively prevented "cloned" equipment appearing in the network, or unauthorized software patches and reboots of networking equipment under attack by hackers.



The new "Keelback" APM86791 PacketPro Gen2 embedded processor features a single-core, 1.0-GHz PowerPC 465 processor with floating point unit, 32KB L1 I-cache, 32KB D-cache and 256 KB L2 cache with hardware I/O coherency and DDR3 memory controller with optional ECC. The Trusted Management Module is part of a set of advanced features enabled by SLIMpro in AppliedMicro's PacketPro Gen 2 family. Other features available through SLIMpro include intelligent power management, asymmetric multiprocessing, queue and traffic management, and offload acceleration features. The APM86791 has four 10/100/1000 Ethernet ports (RGMII & SGMII), two PCI-Express Gen1/2 ports, two USB 2.0 hosts with integrated PHY/Serdes and one SATA 2.0 port.



"With network connectivity becoming even more pervasive, mainstream, embedded systems are faced with security threats ranging from intellectual property theft and network intrusions to system hacking," said Majid Bemanian, senior director of marketing for AppliedMicro. "AppliedMicro offers a customizable approach with its Trusted Management Module as a tamper-proof hardware platform that is impervious to software and hardware attacks, providing developers with the most advanced security for embedded systems."



Samples of AppliedMicro APM86791 are expected in the third quarter. http://www.apm.com