We are excited to announce wolfCrypt support for the STM32H7S, the latest high-performance microcontroller from STMicro. This Cortex-M7 (600MHz) part is designed to leverage external flash, offering new possibilities for embedded security and cryptographic applications.
Performance Insights: STM32H7S + wolfCrypt
In our testing, the STM32H7S’s onboard cryptography hardware demonstrated impressive performance across various algorithms. The hardware acceleration provided by STMicro allowed for faster cryptographic operations and reduced CPU load, making it an ideal choice for performance-critical applications.
The hardware cryptography for symmetric AES and SHA2 was much faster than our software implementation. The hardware PKA for ECC was slower than our Single Precision Cortex-M assembly (sp_cortexm.c). The software AES performance on the STM32H7S was slower than usual due to the external flash eXecute In Place (XIP) swapping because of the AES table lookups. This could be further optimized in the future.
The STM32 symmetric (AES/HASH) hardware cryptography support is enabled by default unless NO_STM32_CRYPTO or NO_STM32_HASH are defined. To enable the PKA (ECC) hardware acceleration make sure WOLFSSL_STM32_PKA is defined. To force use of the Single Precision speedups define WOLFSSL_HAVE_SP_ECC and WOLFSSL_SP_ARM_CORTEX_M_ASM.
Below are benchmark results comparing the onboard STM cryptography hardware with wolfCrypt software cryptography on the STM32H7S.
What’s Next: wolfBoot Port and Hardware-Based Root of Trust
Our work doesn’t stop here. We are currently developing a wolfBoot port for the STM32H7S, which will include support for their hardware-based root of trust. This integration will provide enhanced secure boot capabilities, ensuring firmware integrity and protection against unauthorized modifications.
Stay tuned for further updates as we continue to optimize and expand our support for cutting-edge hardware platforms like the STM32H7S.
For more information on wolfCrypt and how it integrates with the STM32H7S, visit our documentation or reach out to our team at facts@wolfSSL.com or +1 425 245 8247.
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