LoRaWAN-based security solution for smart city and Industry 4.0 applications
It has been announced that Cypress Semiconductor has collaborated with ESCRYPT, an IoT security provider and member of the Bosch group, to offer a secure microcontroller (MCU) solution for applications using the LoRaWAN open protocol.
ESCRYPT has integrated their secure LoRaWAN key provisioning and management application programming interface (API) with Cypress’ PSoC 6 BLE MCU so customers can easily protect and manage their LoRaWAN keys and deploy a secure LoRaWAN-based system quickly.
The PSoC 6 BLE MCU is the industry’s lowest power, most flexible dual-core MCU with built-in Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) wireless connectivity and hardware-based security, including an isolated-execution environment, secure-element functionality and an accelerated cryptographic engine.
Smart city and industrial Internet of Things (IoT) applications that leverage the LoRaWAN network require processing for sensor aggregation, control actuation and for operation of the radio stack. The radio stack utilizes two Advanced Encryption Standard AES-128 cryptographic keys for security operations—one to authenticate packet data to the network server and one to decrypt the packet when it arrives at the application server.
Cypress’ PSoC 6 MCUs ensure that these keys are only used by crypto operations and are not accessible by other programs. The radio stack conducts signing and encrypting in the MCUs’ isolated execution environment, protecting sensitive information. In addition, the PSoC 6 MCUs’ secure boot capability ensures that they power up in a secure state. Along with these security features, PSoC 6 MCUs provide BLE for off-channel communication and additional processing capacity that can be used for sensor hub functionality, providing a one-chip LoRaWAN host MCU.
“When we looked around the IoT MCU universe, we identified Cypress’ PSoC 6 as the ultimate low-power, secure MCU to match with the LoRa radio,” said Tony Rosati, ESCRYPT’s Director of IoT Security Solutions. “PSoC 6 MCU-based LoRaWAN-based modules will provide our customers with everything they need to bring secure IoT solutions to market quickly.”
The ESCRYPT LoRaWAN Key Management System (KMS) is a Cloud based security service for lifecycle key management in any LoRaWAN ecosystem. It is use used to securely provision and register devices onto any LoRaWAN network and to securely store keying material for the LoRaWAN ecosystem. Keying material is never exposed and only authorized users gain access to sensitive IoT data.
“Edge devices that use Semtech’s LoRa devices and wireless radio frequency technology (LoRa Technology) need to be secure and protect the data that they generate and process,” said Jack Ogawa, senior director of marketing for the MCU Business Unit at Cypress. “PSoC 6 MCUs protect encryption keys and provide isolated execution environments for secure operations, and therefore can be the cornerstone for a secure LoRa-based device that service providers can trust. Cypress and ESCRYPT together provide an end-to-end security solution, from silicon to cloud-based key management.”
Cypress and ESCRYPT are demonstrating a secure PSoC 6 MCU-based LoRa-based module from partner Onethinx that connects to the Cross Domain Development Kit (XDK), a smart and wirelessly transmitting multi-sensor module by Bosch Connected Devices and Solution GmbH.
The XDK records sensor data such as vibration, orientation, temperature, light intensity or barometric pressure from Micro-Electromechanical Systems (MEMS) sensors and uses the ESCRYPT provisioning system to securely connect to the Onethinx LoRa-based application server.
