Vulnerabilities of Secure and Reliable Low-Power Embedded Systems and Their Analysis Methods

Abstract

Due to the increase in popularity of mobile devices, it has become necessary to develop a low-power design methodology in order to build complex embedded systems with the ability to minimize power usage. In order to fulfill power constraints and security constraints if personal data is involved, test and verification of a design's functionality are imperative tasks during a product's development process. Currently, in the field of secure and reliable low-power embedded systems, issues such as peak power consumption, supply voltage variations, and fault attacks are the most troublesome. This chapter presents a comprehensive study over design analysis methodologies that have been presented in recent years in literature. During a long-lasting and successful cooperation between industry and academia, several of these techniques have been evaluated, and the identified sensitivities of embedded systems are presented. This includes a wide range of problem groups, from power and supply-related issues to operational faults caused by attacks as well as reliability topics.

Secure and Trustworthy NFC-Based Sensor Readout for Battery Packs in Battery Management Systems

“…To supplement the communication handling requirements for the NFC reader, and also preceding and subsequent data and security processing, we introduce another process MCU that works either along with the BCC chip or on top of the BCC functional block. In most scenarios, the communication between the CCBs and the BMS controller is established using either a Controller Area Network (CAN) protocol, or some other form of network connection, like Ethernet, Transformer Physical Layer (TPL), or SPI [33].One BMS controller can communicate with multiple CCBs, depending on the system and protocol limitations [1], [4].…”

“…Since battery modules are usually enclosed in a protective case together with a BCC, the main potential attack vectors on these modules would be the ones initiated through counterfeiting [27]. It is important that only battery cells that come from valid and approved manufactures are installed, as inadequate battery cells could potentially lead to hazards through compromising the BMS controller, or even going higher to the high-speed network outside the BMS environment [33].…”

“…Security attention should be given to the extension of the authentication algorithm, but also in adding an extra security layer for communication with the external components and services. Additional threat aspects need to be considered when the attack surface is extended [33], [38].…”