Open hardware specialist ANAVI has announced an add-on designed to boost the security of projects built around the Raspberry Pi family of single-board computers: a Trusted Platform Module 2.0 (TPM 2.0) that slots straight onto the general-purpose input/output (GPIO) header.
“Designed as open source hardware, ANAVI TPM 2.0 is intended for developers, hobbyists, and professionals who require enhanced security for Raspberry Pi-based projects,” ANAVI explains of its creation. “It provides a reliable solution for secure key storage and cryptographic operations, and it can also function as a True Hardware Random Number Generator (TRNG), offering a high-entropy source suitable for security-critical applications.”
The ANAVI TPM 2.0, available in straight (left) and angled (right) variants, adds a Trusted Platform Module 2.0 to any Raspberry Pi SBC. (📷: ANAVI)
The heart of the tiny add-on board is an Infineon Optiga SLB 9672, which implements the full Trusted Platform Module 2.0 specification — the same specification Microsoft has made mandatory for systems running its Windows 11 operating system. Rather than the usual connector to place it on a desktop or laptop PC motherboard, though, ANAVI’s take on the technology uses a 2×5-pin header to connect it to the GPIO header on any model of Raspberry Pi single-board computer.
Once installed, the TPM communicates with the host over the SPI bus — and uses an existing TPM device tree binary overlay already included in the Raspberry Pi OS Linux distribution, meaning that it should work without fuss. The hardware design files, meanwhile, have already been released on GitHub under the reciprocal Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.
ANAVI is planning to launch a crowdfunding campaign for the TPM 2.0 add-on in the near future, with interested parties invited to sign up on Crowd Supply to be notified when the campaign goes live.
