RF360 Smart IC Platform for Contactless Secure Government Electronic ID - Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments introduces its RF360 smart IC (integrated circuit) platform, specially developed to meet the demands of the contactless government electronic ID (identification) market. The RF360 smart IC platform will provide fast chip transaction speeds enabling governments to quickly and efficiently produce a multitude of passive electronic ID such as national ID cards and  e-passports (electronic passports). RF360 smart IC platform will integrate TI's popular MSP430 microcontroller, advanced embedded FRAM (Ferroelectric Random Access Memory)  and RF Analog Front-End (AFE) technologies.

The RF360 smart IC platform's initial product will be a contactless smart IC and the samples will be available mid-2008.

Contactless Government Electronic IDs

The RF360 smart IC will deliver enhanced analog chip sensitivity which will improve read and write robustness especially in weak transmit fields from RF readers. Compared with existing contactless smart IC solutions, the 130 nm manufacturing process will give customers significant advantages in terms of die size and power efficiency while the combination of proven, innovative technologies will deliver an IC that is faster and more reliable. Faster data-write and transaction read times along with enhanced security and reliability are key requirements for government electronic ID.

TI’s RF360 Smart IC Platform

RF360 smart IC platform will provide both the memory and processing performance to accommodate current and future security and encryption requirements, such as Basic Access Control (BAC) and Extended Access Control (EAC) requirements developed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). It will integrate advanced security countermeasures and is designed to meet the stringent requirements of the EAL5+ security certification per the BSI (Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik) Smartcard protection profile (BSI-PPP-0002). The RF360 will also feature innovative, fast hardware co-processors on the chip which support both public key cryptography (RSA, Elliptic Curve) and symmetric key cryptography (DES/Triple DES, AES).

RF360 smart IC platform will easily scale to meet future capabilities of government IDs such as larger amounts of memory for additional biometrics and multiple application credentials. It will further accommodate write-on-the-fly scenarios, including entry/exit information and electronic visas. The RF360 architecture will support both contactless (ISO/IEC 14443 air interface protocol) and contact (ISO/IEC 7816 smart card interface protocol) communication. The RF360 smart IC platform will support both open standard and native operating systems. It will also include easy-to-use software tools to enable third-party development similar to other TI semiconductor products.

With the MSP430 microcontroller as an integral component of the RF360 technology architecture, government ID customers can leverage the world's most power-efficient microcontroller, used in hundreds of low-power mobile products. Benefits:

• Reduced, yet robust, instruction set and high code efficiency drives faster processing
• Architected to consume less power
• Designed to minimize engineering and porting costs, the RF360 is accompanied with a mature and easy-to-use development kit

TI's RF360 employs an advanced embedded memory technology, called FRAM, which provides a significant improvement over the non-volatile memory technologies used in current electronic government ID, such as Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM) and Flash.  FRAM enables faster personalization, higher document manufacturing yields, the ability to incorporate future additional biometric data and “write-on-the-fly” capability. Benefits:

• Superior performance – Due to low voltage and ultra low-power operation
• Fast write speeds – Eliminates the difference between write and read times
• Enhanced data reliability – Superior radiation hardness and inherent tearing protection
• Inexhaustible write endurance – More than 10 million times higher write capability (FRAM has100 trillion write/read cycles)
• Scalable for future needs – Significant reduction in IC manufacturing process steps, smaller cell size and more memory capability

More info: Contactless Secure Government Electronic ID - Texas Instruments