STM32N6570-DK + ST67W611M1

Secure MQTT-over-TLS Reference Firmware

This repository provides a complete MQTT-over-TLS reference for the STM32N6570-DK paired with the ST67W611M1.

It is built for a repeatable bring-up workflow: flash, provision, validate, and then move to source-level build/debug in STM32CubeIDE. Validated broker flows in this repository are AWS IoT Core and Mosquitto.

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⚡ Hardware Crypto Acceleration

This firmware leverages the STM32N6570's advanced cryptographic hardware accelerators to enhance security performance:

Accelerator	Feature	Use Case
RNG	Hardware Random Number Generator	Secure key generation, TLS nonce/IV generation
HASH	SHA256 hardware hashing	Certificate validation, MQTT message integrity
AES	AES-128/256 encryption/decryption	TLS symmetric encryption, symmetric key operations
PKA	Public Key Accelerator	TLS handshake (ECDSA), certificate-based authentication

These accelerators are enabled by default in MbedTLS via hardware abstraction interfaces (aes_alt, sha256_alt, rng_alt, ecp_alt) and are automatically used during TLS handshakes and cryptographic operations. This results in:

• ✅ Faster TLS handshakes (PKA acceleration for elliptic curve operations)
• ✅ Reduced CPU load during encryption/decryption
• ✅ Lower power consumption for IoT deployments
• ✅ Improved throughput for secure MQTT communication

Configuration details: See CRYPTO_ACCELERATORS.md and Appli/Core/Inc/mbedtls_config_hw.h.

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What This Project Covers

• Hardware:
  • STM32N6570-DK (with integrated cryptographic accelerators)
  • ST67W611M1 (T02 mission profile, Wi-Fi 6)
• Security:
  • Hardware-accelerated cryptography (RNG, SHA256, AES, PKA)
  • MbedTLS 3.1.1 with hardware abstraction layer
  • PKCS#11-based key and certificate management
  • Secure provisioning workflows
• Application demos:
  • LED control over MQTT
  • Button event reporting over MQTT
• Provisioning targets:
  • AWS IoT Core
  • Mosquitto

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Required Software

• STM32CubeProgrammer (required for flashing)
• STM32CubeIDE (required for build/debug from source)
• STM32CubeMX (required for project regeneration)

If you use AWS IoT Core:

• AWS account
• AWS CLI installation
• aws configure quickstart

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Quick Start

1. Clone with submodules:
   • git clone https://github.com/SlimJallouli/stm32n6570_dk_w6x_iot_reference.git --recurse-submodules
2. Update ST67 to T02 mission profile using NCP_update_mission_profile_t02:
   • https://github.com/STMicroelectronics/x-cube-st67w61/tree/main/Projects/ST67W6X_Scripts/Binaries
3. Move to the scripts directory:
   • cd bin
4. Edit broker and Wi-Fi settings in config.json
5. Run:
   • .\run_all.ps1
6. Open serial logs and validate LED/Button MQTT behavior.

For full scripted flashing/provisioning details, see bin/readme.md.

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Build Configurations

The Appli project in STM32CubeIDE comes with two build configurations, allowing you to choose between hardware-accelerated and software-only cryptography:

Configuration	Crypto Implementation	Performance	Use Case
HW_Crypto (default)	Hardware accelerators (RNG, SHA256, AES, PKA)	⚡ Fast, low CPU/power	Production, performance-critical deployments
SW_Crypto	Pure software implementation (mbedTLS standard)	Standard	Development, testing, validation without hardware features

Switching configurations:

1. In STM32CubeIDE: Right-click Appli → Build Configurations → Set Active
2. Or use the configuration dropdown in the toolbar
3. Rebuild the project (Project → Clean / Build)

Both configurations use identical MQTT/FreeRTOS/LwIP stacks and are binary-compatible for provisioning workflows—only the crypto backend differs.

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Runtime Architecture

flowchart TD
    A[StartDefaultTask] --> B[Task_CLI]
    A --> C[KVStore_init]
    A --> D[net_main - ST67]
    A --> E[vMQTTAgentTask]
    E --> F[vLEDTask]
    E --> G[vButtonTask]

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Documentation Guide

Topic	File
Architecture and middleware	docs/architecture.md
Software components	docs/software_components.md
Securing the application	docs/securing_the_application.md
Flash and RAM memory layout	docs/memory_layout.md
Hardware crypto accelerators	Appli/Core/Src/crypto/CRYPTO_ACCELERATORS.md
Build, debug, and flash	docs/debug.md
Scripted flash/provision flow	bin/readme.md
MQTT topic/data model	docs/mqtt_data_model.md
AWS provisioning	docs/provisioning_aws.md
Mosquitto provisioning	docs/provisioning_mosquitto.md
Repository structure	docs/repo_structure.md
Troubleshooting	docs/troubleshooting.md

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Module Guides

• Button app: Appli/Common/app/button/readme.md
• LED app: Appli/Common/app/led/readme.md
• CLI: Appli/Common/cli/ReadMe.md
• Crypto: Appli/Common/crypto/ReadMe.md
• KVStore: Appli/Common/kvstore/ReadMe.md
• corePKCS11: https://github.com/FreeRTOS/corePKCS11
• LittleFS: https://github.com/littlefs-project/littlefs

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Build and Flash Paths

• Import both projects into STM32CubeIDE:
  • FSBL
  • Appli
• Build and debug/flash details:
  • docs/debug.md

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Git Submodules Used

• corePKCS11
• littlefs
• tinycbor