SPRT789A April 2025 – July 2025

TI Foundational Software for MCU Devices

What is TIFS-MCU ?

TIFS stands for Texas Instruments Foundational Security for F29x SoCs. TIFS provides device root of trust and foundational security services. The HSM or hardware security module consists of a secure core based secure subsystem. TIFS-MCU serves as an add-on package on top of F29-SDK offering for F29x devices like F29H85x. TIFS-MCU enables a bare metal security stack on secure CPU that can be leveraged by the user too.

Develop device root of trust and provide foundational security services
Integrate with 3P Auto-HSM stacks TIFS-MCU is not a replacement for AUTOSAR-HSM stack.

TIFS-MCU enables foundational security SW with all the building blocks required for root-of-trust within the device and utilizes various services. TIFS-MCU can be easily integrated by AUTOSAR-HSM stack vendors to develop HSM stacks that adhere to SHE/EVITA standards.

What is Code Provisioning Firmware in TIFS-MCU ?

Code Provisioning firmware is TI delivered software (including source) which enables secure provisioning of software into the internal flash of the device. This allows users to program HSM as well as C29 applications securely even in non-secure environment.

Table 1 List of Features Supported by Code Provisioning Flow

Features of Code Provisioning Flow	Image Integrity	Bank Mode
HSM Run Time Firmware Provisioning	RSA-4K with SHA512 ECDSA secp256R1 with SHA512 ECDSA secp384R1 with SHA512 ECDSA secp521R1 with SHA512 ECDSA brainpool512R1 with SHA512	All Bank Modes
C29 CPU1 Provisioning	RSA-4K with SHA512 ECDSA secp256R1 with SHA512 ECDSA secp384R1 with SHA512 ECDSA secp521R1 with SHA512 ECDSA brainpool512R1 with SHA512	All Bank Modes
Secure Config Provisioning	RSA-4K with SHA512 ECDSA secp256R1 with SHA512 ECDSA secp384R1 with SHA512 ECDSA secp521R1 with SHA512 ECDSA brainpool512R1 with SHA512	All Bank Modes

Table 2 List of Software Deliverables for Secure Code Provisioning Flow

List of Software Components	Software Type	OPN	Delivery Location	Source Available in 1.01.00
UART Flash Kernel	Example	F29H85x-SDK	ti.com	Yes
Host Programmer	Tool for: Windows Linux MacOS	F29H85x-SDK	ti.com	Yes
OTP Key Writer Certificate Generation	Python tool	F29H85x-TIFS-SDK	Secure Resources	Yes
HSM KP firmware	Encrypted Firmware	F29H85x-TIFS-SDK	Secure Resources	No
HSM CP firmware	Example	F29H85x-TIFS-SDK	Secure Resources	Yes
Code signing tool	Python tool	F29H85x-TIFS-SDK	Secure Resources	Yes

What is available in the TIFS-MCU SDK ?

TIFS-MCU SDK offers out-of-box services and example HSM firmware showcasing use cases which execute in HSM subsystem.

Figure 3 Native Services Provided by TIFS-MCU

Figure 4 Software Architecture Block Diagram of TIFS-MCU

Table 3 TIFS-MCU Software Components

TIFS-MCU Software Components	Description
OS Kernel
No RTOS	Contains modules which implement no-RTOS execution environment consisting of timers, ISR, main thread. Allows software on top to run in bare metal mode. Note - HSM Server is only supported in NORTOS.
Driver Porting Layer (DPL)	APIs used by drivers to abstract the OS environment. Example, Semaphore, HW interrupts, mutex, clock.
Security Device Drivers and Modules
TIFS-MCU Peripheral Drivers	Device Drivers library and APIs for HSM. List of SOC Peripheral Driver: HSM MBOX and Secure IPC Crypto Drivers HSM Flash, HSM FRI Security Manager Firewall
TIFS-MCU Middle-ware	TIFS-MCU middle-ware that are supported in TIFS-MCU package List of Middle-ware: HSM Server HSM Memory Log ASN1 Parser and Certificate Parser Key Derivation Crypto Interface
TIFS-MCU Services	TIFS-MCU middle-ware that are supported in TIFS-MCU package List of HSM Services: HSM Get Version Service HSM Get UID Service HSM Run Time Debug Authentication Service HSM Derived KEK Service HSM Random Number Generate Service HSM Extended OTP Services HSM Anti Rollback Services HSM Root of Trust Switching Services HSM Secure Firmware Update Services
TIFS-MCU Firmware	Out of Box Example implementation of TIFS-MCU firmware with all the mentioned services enabled
Examples and Demos
Examples and Demos	List of HSM Examples: Combined Services Demo showcasing all the HSM services Boot Manager demonstrating Firmware Update in Flash Boot Mode Encryption/Decryption Cryptographic Examples Hashing Cryptographic Examples Asymmetric Cryptographic Examples
Tools (used on host machine)
Code Composer Studio (CCS)	IDE used to build projects, debug programs
TI CLANG Compiler Toolchain	CLANG based ARM compiler from TI for ARM M4F
TI C29-CGT Toolchain	CLANG based C29 compiler from TI for C29 CPU
SysConfig	System configuration tool, used to configure peripherals, pinmux, clocks and generate system initialization code
SDK Tools and Utilities	Additional tools and utilities, like flashing tools, booting tools, CCS loading scripts used with the SDK development flow
OTP Keywriter	OTP Keywriter is used to fuse customer keys into the device and convert HS-FS to HS-KP to establish customer root-of-trust.
TIFS-MCU tools	Tools and scripts to leverage the services provided via TIFS-MCU.

Table 4 HSM Services Supported

Services	Description	Examples Available
HSM Get Version Service	HSM GetVersion service is to get the current TIFS-MCU Firmware version	Yes
HSM Get UID Service	When TIFS-MCU Firmware receives a request to GetUID from HSM Server, the UID is copied from secure memory to the output memory location requested by the user.	Yes
HSM Run Time Debug Authentication Service	To unlock the debug port during the run-time, you need an X509 certificate signed with private keys. This service is used to provide the signed certificate to TIFS-MCU Firmware for processing.	Yes
HSM Derived KEK Service	TIFS-MCU provides this service to get a derived KEK based on some input constants. This key is unique for every unit device and is kept secret. This key cannot be fetched from hardware in any manner.	Yes
HSM Random Number Generate Service	TIFS-MCU provides this service to get a random number from the given input constants.	Yes
HSM Extended OTP Service	TIFS-MCU provides services to program General purpose OTP regions which are an array of otp flash bits that can be defined for user usage models.	Yes
HSM Anti Rollback Service	TIFS-MCU provides anti-rollback services that help prevent booting older software images. The device has OTP fields to hold software revision for SBL, HSMRt, SECCFG and Application Images.	Yes
HSM Root of Trust Switch Service	TIFS-MCU provides Secure RoT Switching to switch to backup keys from the secondary keys. There are two Root of Trust Keys that are present in the SoC: Secondary (SMPK/SMEK) and Backup (BMPK/BMEK). If the secondary key is compromised, the attacker can take the control of the entire SoC.	Yes
HSM Firmware Update Service	TIFS-MCU provides secure firmware update service which consists of certificate authentication flow, verification against the root of trust keys and maintain the image integrity of the image throughout the flow.	Yes

Table 5 Crypto HW Accelerators and Modes Supported

Crypto Core	Support Available in SW Driver	Examples Available
AESEncryption and Decryption	128,192 and 256 bits Keys ECB, CBC, CCM, CTR, CFB One-Shot + Streaming Mode CPU Polling Mode	Yes
AESMAC Generation and Verification	128,192 and 256 bits Keys CCM, CBC-MAC, CMAC One-Shot + Streaming Mode CPU Polling Mode	Yes
SHAHasing Algorithm	SHA256, SHA512 HMAC SHA-256, HMAC SHA-512 One-Shot + Streaming Mode CPU Polling Mode	Yes
RSA Encryption and Decryption Signing and Verification	RSA 2048, 3072, 4096 bit RSA PKCS1_5, PSS2_1 CPU Polling Mode	RSA PKCS1_5 with 4K only
ECDSA Signing and Verification	SECP256, SECP384, SECP521 BRAINPOOL-P512 CPU Polling Mode	Yes
EDDSA Signing and Verification	ED25519 CPU Polling Mode	Yes
ECDH Diffie Helman Key Exchange	SECP256, SECP384, SECP521 BRAINPOOL-P512 CPU Polling Mode	Yes