Encryption for HCC Bootloaders

HCC-Embedded today announced the release of AES encryption options for their range of bootloaders for microcontrollers. HCC bootloaders are now available with AES encryption. A products' code can be totally concealed by AES encryption, so that only the bootloader for which the code is destined can decode it. Manufacturers can freely distribute their code, and new uploads can be used, with full confidence that the code cannot be disassembled or tampered with.

HCC’s bootloaders come in 4 basic varieties:

• Serial bootloader – device memory can be reloaded over a serial or virtual communications link
• USB Device Bootloader – device memory can be reloaded through a simple HID class application
• USB Host Bootloader – device memory can be reprogrammed from a USB pen drive
• FAT Bootloader – device memory can be reprogrammed from an SD card or similar

In all cases HCC makes highly optimized, minimal resource boot stubs that are designed to handle exception conditions safely. The boot stub need never be overwritten.

HCC bootloaders are available for many microcontrollers including: AT91SAM7/9, LPC2xxx, MCF5xxx, MSP430, STM32, STR7/9, XC16x

HCC provides all their bootloaders as working projects for standard development boards and for most tool chains. HCC will also port their bootloaders to customer hardware and provide custom designs.