“From credit cards, to mobile phone SIM cards, e-passports and identity cards, smartcards have become a ubiquitous part of our daily lives,” said Takafumi Nishijima, President ARM Japan . “As smartcards are required to support more complex applications and security features, the market will continue to shift from 8-bit to 32-bit processors. The Cortex-M3 processor-based SecurCore SC300 processor provides great system performance with very low power consumption, and vastly simplifies the migration to 32-bit smartcard platforms through a familiar programming environment.”
The ARM Cortex-M3 processor, which forms the foundation of the SecurCore SC300 processor, was specifically developed to target the low-cost requirements of a broad range of markets and applications where memory and processor size significantly impact device costs. The Cortex-M3 processor brings together multiple technologies to reduce memory size while delivering industry-leading performance in a small power efficient RISC core and delivers an ideal platform to accelerate the migration of thousands of applications around the globe from legacy components to 32-bit microcontrollers.
The SC300 processor combines the proven security features of ARM SecurCore processors, currently the most widely-licensed 32-bit RISC CPU for smartcards worldwide, with the processing performance of the Cortex-M3 processor. This assures full compatibility with other ARM processors as well as direct and immediate support from the ARM RealView® Microcontroller Development Kit which is ideal for developing the firmware that will run on smartcards.