BlackBerry Certicom

Security Builder® MCE™

Software Cryptographic Module for Micro-Controller Devices

Security Builder® MCE™ provides the cryptographic primitives required to create a trusted platform for microcontroller devices. This enables wireless networks of devices that can be uniquely identified and allows data to be securely sent to and retrieved from all devices. In addition to symmetric encryption, Security Builder MCE allows you to integrate key exchange and digital signatures based on elliptic curve cryptography (ECC), the only public-key scheme capable of meeting the footprint and power limitations of these constrained devices.

Public-key based operation distributes intelligence in the network, giving each node the ability to validate the identity of other participating nodes. This enables networks that are scalable, fluid and easily reconfigurable, setting the stage for an array of new and innovative applications to drive sales of your microcontroller devices. Security Builder MCE allows you to differentiate your products for higher value applications where security is critical, and to drive the adoption of wireless microcontroller networks.

Related Resources

Features

  Security Builder MCE
Programming Language C
Symmetric Encryption

AES

Asymmetric Encryption ECC
Key Agreement/Key Transport ECDH, ECMQV
Digital Certificates ECQV
Hash Functions MMO, SHA-1
Implementation Code Size Range 2K to 40K
Supported Platforms Atmel AVR, other platforms under development

Benefits

Complete Security for the Entire Device Lifecycle

Security Builder® MCE™ is part of Certicom Security for Sensor Networks, a suite of products which enable developers of low power sensor devices to build secure, reliable operation into sensor networks from design and development through to manufacturing, deployment and upgrade. Certicom Security for Sensor Networks also includes the Certicom f(2m) ECC IP Core for the acceleration of ECC in low power devices, and Certicom Key Inject which permits device vendors to pre-inject keys into devices to provide a root of trust.

Supports Scalable, Ad Hoc Mesh Networking

Public-key distributes intelligence in the network, and each device has its own unique set of keys, so there is no need for network-key updates as the network changes. This allows for the automatic enrolment of devices to the network providing improved node mobility and flexible topologies that enable mesh networking and ad hoc cluster formation that easily scales to a large number of devices.

Optimized Performance

Optimized for the power, processing and footprint constraints of a microcontroller device, Security Builder® MCE™ delivers strong security without impacting device performance. ECC provides smaller key sizes with higher strength-per-bit than any other public-key cryptosystem, making it the only viable alternative for microcontroller devices. For even stronger performance, Security Builder® MCE™ can be combined with the Certicom f(2m) ECC IP Core.

Higher Value, Higher Margins

Secure devices are used in more-critical, higher value applications and will therefore have a higher average selling price. This will create higher value in the chipsets and software stacks that compose the microcontroller device.