F29H850TU: HSM Q&A

Lawrence Wang

Intellectual 1370 points

Part Number: F29H850TU
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: F29-SDK

Tool/software:

Hi experts,

Our customer has some questions regarding the usage of the HSM module in the F29 chip

HSM System as an Independent Core (M4):
- The customer understands that the HSM software is provided by TI as installed firmware, which they will use it to program into the M4 core. They will then use the C29 core to communicate with the HSM for the corresponding service functions.
  - Q:
    - a) Is this understanding correct? Are there any additional details to consider?
    - b) Does the HSM core software require further development? If so, could you please elaborate on what needs to be developed? Or can the provided software be used directly, with only the technical stack (e.g., Csm, Cryif, Crypto) development needed on the C29 core?
HSM Driver Interface:
- To what extent will TI provide the HSM driver interface? Are there any usage demos available? For example, can functions like Secure Boot, AES/RSA encryption and decryption be directly used with TI-provided interfaces and demos? Or will only a common SDK be provided, requiring further development for even simple encryption and decryption based on the SDK? The customer has encountered other chip suppliers who provide usage demos and basic function encapsulations.
Datasheet Links:
- Some of the manual links mentioned in the datasheet are currently inaccessible (as shown in Figures).

11 months ago

0 Aakash Kedia 11 months ago

TI__Mastermind 26155 points

Hi Lawrence Wang,

Lawrence Wang said:
The customer understands that the HSM software is provided by TI as installed firmware, which they will use it to program into the M4 core. They will then use the C29 core to communicate with the HSM for the corresponding service functions.

Refer to the F29x-TIFS SDK documentation. To request access for the same go to the F29-SDK or F29 product page request access for the same -

Lawrence Wang said:
To what extent will TI provide the HSM driver interface? Are there any usage demos available? For example, can functions like Secure Boot, AES/RSA encryption and decryption be directly used with TI-provided interfaces and demos? Or will only a common SDK be provided, requiring further development for even simple encryption and decryption based on the SDK? The customer has encountered other chip suppliers who provide usage demos and basic function encapsulations.

TIFS-SDK comes with certain set of HSM Services out of box with examples demos as part of the same. You can also use the C29-SDK (v1.01.00 onwards) with secure boot as well. There are drivers available for HSM flash, DTHE (crypto accelerators) like AES, RSA, SHA, ECDSA with examples for the same. These driver examples are provided so users can create their custom services which are not available out-of-box.