Amtel chip speeds e-passport reading

• Tweet

SAN JOSE, Calif., July 6 (UPI) -- Atmel announced its newest microcontroller had helped read an e-passport in less than two seconds in a recent test.

The Silicon Valley firm said Wednesday the independent test showed the chip to be some 10 times faster than other reader devices and meets Common Criteria EAL4-plus security standards.

"We are really excited about the proven superior performance of this chip," said Atmel Vice President John Bryant. "This is the ideal solution not only for e-passports but also for any national ID or driver license application."

Bryant sad the technology fits with a potential booming market as nations begin to adopt higher-tech identification solutions.

Amtel's device, dubbed the AT90SC12872RCFT, features 72 kilobytes of EEPROM memory, 128 kilobytes of ROM memory and 5 kilobytes of RAM. It operates on a secure AVR 8-16 bit microcontroller.