Automotive-grade secure authenticator enhances vehicle safety

Designers are now able to enhance safety, security and data integrity for connected vehicle systems while also decreasing both complexity and code development time with the DS28C40 DeepCover automotive secure authenticator from Maxim Integrated Products. Claimed to be the industry’s first and only AEC-Q100 Grade 1 solution for automotive systems, this authenticator IC lessens the design complexity and software vulnerability of prevailing approaches to assure only genuine components are employed for many electronic systems, such as ADAS and EV batteries.

The DS28C40 DeepCover authenticator is the only authenticator that satisfies the AEC-Q100 standard with Grade 1 performance. It replaces microcontroller-based approaches and decreases both system design complexity and associated code development efforts. The authenticator deters theft of high-value components such as front-light modules. It also provides public/private key asymmetric ECDSA (ECC-P256 curve) and other key authentication algorithms built into the IC, enabling OEMs to skip the development of proprietary device-level code. This and other algorithms in the authenticator IC provide the strongest defence against unauthorised components that could compromise performance, safety and data integrity. The DS28C40 comes in a compact, 4mm x 3mm TDFN package and operates over the -40C to +125C temperature range.

“As electronic content increases in automotive platforms, so does the threat of substandard aftermarket components that could compromise vehicle safety and performance,” said Tanner Johnson, senior IoT and connectivity analyst at IHS Markit, now a part of Informa Tech. “Leading manufacturers are appropriately concerned about these threats, and any standards-based security technology that promises to thwart the use of uncertified components and makes the process more cost-effective will draw strong interest from designers.”

“Automotive OEMs and Tier-1s are faced with time and resource constraints when it comes to implementing security for advanced electronic systems,” said Michael Haight, director, Embedded Security at Maxim Integrated. “Our latest small-footprint authenticator ICs help them add the most advanced crypto-security available without adding new development teams to write and debug the code that is typically required for microcontroller and software-dependent approaches.”