Driving industry transition to post-quantum cryptography on control MCUs

Infineon Technologies AG has announced that its MCUs in the new PSOC Control C3 Performance Line family are compliant with Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) requirements for firmware protection outlined in the Commercial National Security Algorithm (CNSA) Suite 2.0. The MCUs also support PSA Level 3 compliance. By complying with both standards, its PSOC Control C3 Performance Line meets the security requirements of a wide range of industrial applications, easing their transition to increased security in the PQC era.

"With the PSOC Control C3 family, we are setting a new standard for security in industrial microcontrollers, building on decades of proven experience in MCUs and secured electronic systems," said Steve Tateosian, SVP and general manager, IoT, Consumer and Industrial MCUs, Infineon Technologies. "Infineon is committed to meeting and evolving industry requirements for MCU embedded security that provides stringent protection against quantum-based attacks on critical systems."

Changes in security architecture for the PQC era include the replacement of Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) based asymmetric cryptography, as well as increasing the size of AES keys and SHA hash sizes. The algorithms and implementation guidelines provided by CNSA 2.0 help to facilitate a smoother transition to Post-Quantum Cryptography.

The PSOC Control C3 family of MCUs provide real-time control for motor control and power conversion applications. New MCUs of the PSOC Control C3 Performance Line enhance system performance by facilitating high switching frequencies and increasing control loop bandwidth. This is achieved with proprietary autonomous hardware accelerators, as well as high-resolution and high-performance analogue peripheral support. The family supports systems designed with wide-bandgap switches, while achieving best-in-class control loop frequencies, accuracy, and efficiency for applications such as data centres, telecom, solar, and electric vehicle (EV) charging systems.

Specific security features include support for Leighton-Micali Hash-Based Signatures (LMS), which is an efficient post-quantum cryptography FW verification algorithm integrated with SHA-2 hardware acceleration for peak performance. To maximise ease of use, the company's Edge Protect Tools and ModusToolbox will support everything a customer needs to provision LMS keys, as well as options for hybrid post-quantum cryptography, where customers may use LMS and ECC to sign firmware updates, which Infineon chips can verify.

Samples of the PSOC Control C3 Performance Line with Post-Quantum Cryptography compliance will be available in late 2025. The CNSA 2.0 compliant MCU family supports SHA-512 and LMS firmware verification for Secure Boot and firmware update verification. Dedicated parts for Power Conversion (PSC3P8/PSC3P7) and Motor Control (PSC3M8/PSC3M7) with multiple package options, supporting up to 100 pins, will be in production in 2026. ModusToolbox Power Suite and Motor Suite provide a leading-edge design environment, including control libraries and tools.