Evaluation board shows effectiveness of AVR and PIC MCUs in IoT sensor node solutions

Microchip Technology AC164160 AVR-IoT WG Evaluation Board, available now from RS Components, is intended to demonstrate the effectiveness of AVR and PIC MCUs in IoT sensor node solutions. This board uses smart modules to lessen the weight of complicated algorithm implementation by the MCU. The board comprises the ATECC608A cryptographic coprocessor chip, ATMEGA4808 MCU, and ATWINC1500 SmartConnect IoT module. Rapid development tools including START and MCC can be employed with the board for plug and play functionality. The evaluation board utilises the cryptographic coprocessor chip to store private keys, validate the firmware, and provide a secure boot process for the device. This chip can generate both the private and public keys itself by using a random number generator. The public keys are then transferred to the client's Google Cloud account and stored securely in the Cloud IoT Core device manager. The evaluation board's onboard ATECC608A chip enables any device to establish a secure connection to the Google Cloud IoT. This secure connection is accomplished by using JWT to authenticate the device rather than relying on the mutual authentication of a TLS stack.