November 17
7
I
ndustrIal
C
omputIng
& C
ommunICatIon
(TCO) and increase profits. The smaller form
factor allows security functions to be included
in very-small-scale devices. Combined
devices consume less power than separate
solutions. The combination product can be
used with new software to upgrade the secu-
rity of existing devices. Devices already in the
field can be upgraded without any changes to
their hardware, as the standard form factors
USB stick, microSD card, SD card, CF card, or
CFast card cover the entire range of common
mobile flash memory solutions. Four special
data partitions offer opportunities for new
products and functions, such as secure stor-
age of highly sensitive data on mobile devices,
mobile software solutions, and greater secu-
rity overall. The built-in combination of
smart card chip and flash memory adds to the
security of the design. Gambling machines,
ATMs, or other devices that are popular tar-
gets for tampering and other cyberattacks can
benefit from this unique quality.
How much revenue a manufacturer gener-
ates with a device can only be known once
all costs incurred during the entire life of the
device are deducted (commonly referred to
as TCO). This includes the simple cost for
the components as well as the spending on
logistics, administration, certification, repairs
and servicing, replacements, training, main-
tenance, or other lifecycle expenditures. For
comparison, CmDongles with integrated
flash memory disk come at a higher upfront
price than consumer flash memory cards that
typically employ MLC/TLC (Triple Level Cell)
flash memory technology. Their economic
advantage lies in the reduced need for logis-
tics, administration, and certification: fewer
parts mean simpler and cheaper provisioning.
A single unit has to be procured, only one item
introduced in the ERP system, and only one
component stored, monitored, or replaced.
Components for industrial applications are
typically available for many years in identical
formats. Firmware and internal electronics
remain unchanged in order to work reliably in
all OEM applications. Another advantage lies
in greater equipment reliability. The CmDon-
gle comes with a range of certifications to
make full certification of the embedded
device easier and less expensive. In a TCO cal-
culation, the higher purchase price becomes a
negligible factor.
Device availability and reliable operations are
the prime directive for industrial applications.
For integrated flash memory, this means that
no data can be lost in case of power outages.
Data integrity must be guaranteed even after
many access cycles. Wibu-Systems uses only
SLC and 2-bit MLC flash memory with high-
end industrial flash memory controllers made
by Hyperstone with its unique hymap flash
firmware. Hyperstone, the only maker of flash
memory controllers in Europe, specializes in
industrial applications. Swissbit, the maker of
CmCards for Wibu-Systems, is known for its
industrial-grade memory products made in
Germany. It uses Common-Criteria-certified
smart card chips like Infineon SLM97 with
EAL5+ certified hardware and Cryptolib. The
electronic components and manufacturing
partners were selected with long life, reliable
operations, and the long-term availability
of identical CmDongles with fixed bill of
material (BOM) in mind. These CmDongles
come with industrial-grade properties and
can optionally be delivered with conformal
coating. They achieve an unbeatable MTBF
(Mean Time Between Failures). In commer-
cial terms, the costs of machine stoppages or
service repairs caused by faulty memory far
exceed the upfront investment into long-life,
high-reliability cards with SLC flash. There
are certain applications with less stringent
requirements and more emphasis on value-
for-price which can benefit from 2-bit MLC
flash and the excellent Hyperstone hymap
firmware.
Product qualification is an expensive and
time-consuming, but inevitable process for
many industrial applications. CmDongles
are qualified according to the following stan-
dards: compliance and regulatory tests, e.g.
EMC (Emission, Immunity, ESD for CE, FCC,
IC, VCCI, KCC, RCM) and registration of
conformity (VCCI, KCC, UL), environmen-
tal tests (TC, UHAST, HTS, THB), robust-
ness tests, e.g. hazardous gases, corrosion, free
fall, shock, vibration, and lifetime tests. These
tests are costly, as some require hundreds of
samples and external labs need to be commis-
sioned for tests and measurements according
to the JEDEC, CISPR, UL, USB, MIL, IEC, EN
standards. All of these tests guarantee reliabil-
ity in industrial applications where use of con-
sumer-grade products would be highly risky.
The life expectancy of a memory card
depends on its internal design and technol-
ogy. MLC flash memory technologies can
distinguish more states of the cell compared
to the regular two states, meaning that four
or eight different charge states (in the case
of the TLC) are identified when writing to
or reading from the floating gate transistor.
Each cell can hold more than one bit with this
technology. Such MLCs are cheaper, because
more bits are available per square inch, but
they are also more susceptible to disruption,
making bit errors and catastrophic failure
more likely. In the end, the life expectancy
of the memory is reduced. Processes to cor-
rect bit errors become increasingly complex
when more than one bit is expressed in each
Figure 1. The CodeMeter product porfolio is available in various form factors
Figure 2. All the security software is integrated in the CodeMeter ASIC
