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Secure EC Overview

The Open Device Partnership (ODP) Secure Embedded Controller (Secure EC) project strives to build an open-source, microcontroller-agnostic embedded controller platform for the PC ecosystem. It combines secure firmware, standardized host interfaces, and reusable Rust components so device makers can reduce effort by building on a standardized platform that is secure by design while focusing on their unique value added.

Goals

  • Security by default leveraging memory-safe Rust
  • Standardize communication between the host operating system and the EC across hardware architectures and operating systems.
  • Provide reusable and customizable firmware services for battery, thermal, power, USB-C, HID, time alarms, and other common EC functions.
  • Support collaboration among device makers, silicon vendors, operating-system vendors, and the open-source community.
  • Reduce platform bring-up effort through shared abstractions, reference implementations, virtual platforms, and test tooling.

Architecture

Secure EC separates portable service logic from platform-specific hardware support:

  1. MCU HALs and board support provide access to clocks, GPIO, I2C, eSPI, I3C, and other peripherals.
  2. Subsystem interfaces decouple portable service logic from hardware implementations for battery, thermal, power, USB-C, HID, and other common EC subsystems.
  3. Embedded services implement reference application logic for EC subsystems.
  4. Host transports and protocols expose those services to the host through standardized interfaces

Security Direction

The project is working toward an EC that is an attestable platform component rather than an implicitly trusted boundary:

  • Secure boot verifies that firmware is authorized before execution.
  • DICE derives device identity from hardware secrets and firmware measurements.
  • Attestation allows host OS to assess the identity and state of the EC.
  • Encrypted communication provides a standardized mechanism for secure data exchange between the EC and the host OS.

Current Work

Current areas of investment include:

  • Expanding portable Rust services and drivers.
  • Supporting reference MCU platforms from multiple silicon vendors.
  • Developing a standardized HID communication protocol over eSPI and I3C transports with OS support.
  • Starting with secure boot and working toward device identity + attestation.
  • Using QEMU-based virtualized platforms for development, integration testing, and ecosystem onboarding.
  • Exploring how Rust-based Secure EC components and APIs can interoperate with Zephyr-based systems.

Key Repositories

RepositoryPurpose
odp-embedded-controllerReference EC firmware including hardware platforms and virtualized platforms. Refer to its README to get started. Secure EC top-level documentation is also included.
odp-platform-qemu-arm-virtEnd-to-end Secure EC test platform connecting a virtualized RISC-V EC to an Arm64 QEMU host running Windows Validation OS.
embedded-servicesReusable EC service implementations and interfaces, including battery, thermal, HID, time and alarms, and UART services.

The broader set of projects and community activity is available in the Open Device Partnership GitHub organization.