Issue link: https://resources.mouser.com/i/1442841
20 / Concept to Creation: Practical Applications for Smart, Connected and Secure IoT Solutions Multiple integrated development environments (IDEs) support the AC164160 AVR-IoT WG board including the Atmel Studio 7 (for Windows ® ), the MPLAB ® X IDE (for Windows, macOS ® , and Linux ® ), and others. The board connects to a PC using a USB cable, which supports programming and debugging from the IDE, drag-and-drop programming, and microcontroller serial port connectivity. The mikroBUS™ expansion connector allows you to expand the board's capabilities with 450+ sensors and actuators offered by Mikroe through their growing portfolio of Click boards TM . ATECC608A Cryptographic Coprocessor The ATECC608A is a high-security cryptographic device that combines hardware-based key storage with hardware cryptographic accelerators to implement various authentication and encryption protocols. It has an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) array that can store up to 16 keys, certificates, or other sensitive data with configurable access controls and locking functions to prevent changes. It can generate and store random private keys internally to ensure a private key is not discoverable outside of the device. Each device has a guaranteed unique 72-bit serial number, and its hardware cryptographic accelerators can implement cryptographic operations' orders of magnitude faster than software running on a standard microcontroller. For this project, we'll use the private key stored in the ATECC608A to authenticate the AVR-IoT board in the Google Cloud IoT (this process eliminates all need to handle or store a private key among the board's software or configuration data). Each AVR-IoT board will have a unique ATECC608A with its own set of public and private keys. Atmel Studio 7 Firmware programs that run on microcontrollers are typically developed and tested using an IDE—such as Atmel Studio 7— running on a PC. The IDE provides an editor, compiler, linker, Figure 2: Importing the Atmel START Project into Atmel Studio. (Source: Mouser Electronics)