Atmel has announced its Aris++ development kit with what it calls a 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.

According to the supplier, the aim is to tackle the illegal use of embedded system IP to create and market product clones. This can be a problem in GPS receivers, set-top boxes and game consoles.

So to protect embedded systems from firmware theft and the violation of licensing agreements, designers can implement cryptographic hardware security.

The kit includes a standalone application development board with Atmel's 8kbit 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 tool provides a menu-driven, graphical user interface for CryptoMemory configuration and testing.

The kit includes development libraries that implement all host cryptographic operations required for secure communication on a variety of different microcontroller platforms.
Applications developed with Aris++ may be ported to any microcontroller platform.

See http://www.atmel.com/products/SecureMem/

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