Trusted Platform Module Basics

• Clear, practical tutorial style text with real-world applications
• First book on TPM for embedded designers
• Provides a sound foundation on the TPM, helping designers take advantage of hardware security based on sound TCG standards
• Covers all the TPM basics, discussing in detail the TPM Key Hierarchy and the Trusted Platform Module specification
• Presents a methodology to enable designers and developers to successfully integrate the TPM into an embedded design and verify the TPM's operation on a specific platform

• This sound foundation on the TPM provides clear, practical tutorials with detailed real-world application examples
• The author is reknowned for training embedded systems developers to successfully implement the TPM worldwide

Security has become a key design consideration for many embedded engineers due to the significant advances in embedded systems’ networking capabilities. However, system security is difficult to manage, and the typical size, power, and cost limitations faced by embedded developers inhibit their use of many software-based cryptographic security models. The Trusted Computing Group’s (TCG) Trusted Platform Module (TPM) open standard, which facilitates hacker-safe computing at the hardware level, presents a possible solution to this quandary. Although PC designers don’t particularly need to see inside the TPM’s “black box,” embedded engineers must become intimately familiar with its functionality to enable security measure customization that conserves space, memory, and power. In this practical guide, expert author Steven Kinney cuts through the complexities of the lengthy TPM specification to provide a targeted, solid foundation for understanding the standard. This book encapsulates everything readers need to know in order to take advantage of hardware security based on sound TCG standards. It introduces the TPM interface’s basic concepts, then discusses command compilation and execution in detail, focusing on the TPM key hierarchy and the specification itself. The author presents a methodology that allows developers to successfully integrate the TPM into an embedded design and to verify the TPM’s operation on a specific platform. Detailed real-world application examples throughout the book use the popular Atmel single-chip implementation of the TPM, which was created specifically for use in embedded designs.