STMicroelectronics, a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications and the world’s top supplier of secure chips for NFC Universal Integrated Circuit Cards (UICCs)1 and embedded Secure Element (eSE) Element2 applications, has revealed the latest generation of its successful ST33 secure microcontroller line, delivering advanced performance, enhanced security, lower power consumption and even greater multi-interface flexibility.
ST’s new ST33G1M2 offers the unique ability to function either in a mobile-phone NFC UICC, which handles mobile payments alongside SIM applications and user-data storage, or as a dedicated embedded secure chip in NFC smartphones. Both sectors are growing strongly; in April 2013, SIMalliance confirmed its members shipped over 30 million NFC-enabled SIMs in 20123, representing an 87% increase on 2011, while Eurosmart predicted that total Secure Element shipments would exceed 250 million in 20134.
The ST33G1M2 is also unique in supporting the complete MIFARE® portfolio including MIFARE® Classic, MIFARE DESFire® and MIFARE Plus®. Further enhancements include an improved EDES+ accelerator supporting 3-key triple DES security, and support for hardware-accelerated AES encryption (AES-HW).
John Devlin, Practice Director at ABI Research commented, “The market for embedded and SWP SIM secure element ICs demands the highest levels of security as well as support for recognized standards and interfaces. SIM card manufacturers and device OEMs are looking to choose secure elements offering greater memory capacity to support a growing breadth and volume of applications. The ST33G1M2 positions STMicroelectronics to build upon its significant lead and has the potential to serve additional applications such as pay TV and high-end authentication.”
Driving forward the ST33 family of secure microcontrollers suitable for both NFC (Near Field Communication) UICC and eSE applications, ST’s new ST33G1M2 provides enhanced interfaces including Single-Wire Protocol (SWP) and a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI), making the device suitable for a wide variety of form factors and applications.
“The ST33G1M2 takes our industry-leading ST33 secure microcontrollers forward into the next generation, delivering greater performance, flexibility and enhanced security for the secure mobile applications of tomorrow,” said Laurent Degauque, Embedded Security Marketing Director, STMicroelectronics. “With its unique combination of support for NFC UICC and eSE applications and the entire MIFARE portfolio, plus enhanced connectivity and large on-chip Flash memory, this device dramatically extends opportunities for issuers to manage secure access to multiple services using the same card.”
Customers using ST’s ST33 family will experience easy migration of existing solutions onto the new ST33G1M2, taking advantage of ST’s seamless roadmap that enables developers to maximize engineering re-use and deliver enhanced eSE or UICC solutions to market quickly and efficiently. In addition, ST’s dual-factory supply capability (both 8” and 12” fab) for the ST33G1M2 ensures consistent lead times and security of supply.
Major features of ST33G1M2:
- 32-bit SC300 secure core based on ARM® Cortex™-M3
- 1.2MByte embedded Flash
- Targeted for EMVCo and EAL5+ certifications
- Comprehensive MIFARE® support
- Reduced power consumption and silicon footprint
- Enhanced connectivity with SPI and GPIO
The ST33G1M2 is in full production now, and available in wafers or micromodules, or in DFN8 or WLCSP packages. Please contact your ST sales office for pricing options and sample requests.
MIFARE and DESFire are registered trademarks of NXP B.V. in the U.S. and other jurisdictions, and are used under license.
1 The UICC (Universal Integrated Circuit Card) is the smart card used in mobile terminals in GSM and UMTS networks
2 ABI Research: NFC Market Data, November 2013
3 SIMalliance Reports 6% Increase in Global SIM Shipments in 2012, April 10, 2013. http://www.simalliance.org/en/news__events/press_releases/all_press_releases/simalliance-reports-6-increase-in-global-sim-shipm_hfb7k6r1.html
4 Eurosmart General Assembly Confirms Strong Growth, April 23, 2013. http://www.eurosmart.com/publications/press-release