Oki is shipping a low-cost ARM7-based SoC (system-on-chip) targeting smart card reader/writers for POS (point-of-sales/services), identification, authentication, e-ticketing, and other applications. The sub-$7 ML675050 integrates an LCD controller and a security engine, and is available with a development board.

(Click for larger view of the ML675050's development board)

Oki says smart cards offer speed and convenience when used to conduct transactions at retail and grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, theaters, hospitals and clinics, and public transit systems.

The ML675050 is based on a 32-bit ARM7TDMI core and is said to meet ISO-7816 EMV IC Card standards. It integrates a “modulo calculation accelerator” that speeds RSA security software up to 10 times, Oki says. The chip also sports a black-and-white LCD controller supporting STN (super-twisted nematic) screens up to QVGA (320×240).

ML675050 diagram
(Click to enlarge)
Key features of the ML675050 listed by Oki include:

• 64 MHz ARM7TDMI core, with 8 KB unified cache
• Modulo Calculation Accelerator for enhancing RSA encryption/decryption
• Random Number Generator (RNG)
• Integrated battery backup RAM for storing crypto-key data
• Full-speed USB host and device support
• Internal memory: 16 KB RAM and 2 KB of battery backup RAM
• External memory controller: ROM/Flash (16 MB), SRAM (16 MB), SDRAM (64 MB), and I/O (16 MB)
• Serial interfaces include: I2C (2 ch), SPI (2 ch), UART (2 ch) and SIO
• 6 flexible timers, 1 system timer, 1 WDT, 1 RTC
• 8 ch ADC 12-bit
• LCD controller QVGA1-bpp STN with 10 KB frame buffer
• Two Smart Card interfaces (ISO-7816/EMV Compliant)
• Six channel DMA supporting RSA, UART, SPI, 12C, memory to memory and USB host

Additionally, the ML675050 “supports embedded Linux,” an Oki spokesperson confirmed. Presumably, since the ARM7TDMI core does not include an MMU, the “Linux” supported by the ML675050 would be uClinux, a variant of Linux that does not require an MMU.

David Pelavin, senior director of logic business development, stated, “With the added convenience and high-level of security offered by Smart Card applications, many suppliers have entered this market. Oki's ML675050 [is] an off-the-shelf, low-cost 32-bit MCU that incorporates the latest encryption/decryption technology, as well as a robust set of peripherals.”

Availability

The ML675050 is available now, priced at $6.63 in quantities of 100,000. A development board for the chip is also available, as is sample code in ARM Development Suite and ARM RealView Development Suite formats. Additional sample code from IAR Systems will be available in the third quarter of 2006, Oki says.

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