Feitian reveals Ambiq as biometric payment card microcontroller partner and plans for more applications

Texas-based microprocessor and system-on-chip maker Ambiq has signed what it calls a “multifaceted” partnership with Feitian to work on the latter’s biometric cards, OTP (one-time password) display cards, and FIDO devices for cybersecurity and logical access control.

Ambiq will supply its Apollo3 Thin MCU, an ultra-low power microcontroller, for Feitian’s biometric solutions. The chip validates fingerprint authentication quickly with very low False Acceptance and False Rejection Rate (FAR and FRR), the companies say. The Apollo MCU family has the best energy efficiency in the world, according to the announcement, allowing biometric devices to validate and authenticate faster and at a further distance from the reader or POS terminal.

Feitian’s biometric payment card with Ambiq’s Apollo3 Blue Thin MCU and dual interface technology from Idex Biometrics has already been certified by UnionPay.

Feitian FIDO Fingerprint Biometric Security Keys with Ambiq’s technology also support the latest version of Microsoft Hybrid Azure Active Directory.

The announcement also mentions contact tracing and social distancing for the safe reopening of society as a use case for Feitian’s biometric solutions with the Apollo3 Blue Thin MCU.

“Feitian is pleased to partner with Ambiq to continue advocating safety and security in today’s climate,” says Yan Yan, vice president at Feitian. “Ambiq’s Apollo MCU family demonstrated its technological advances in ultra-low power consumption and ideal performance that exceeds our expectation.”

The Apollo3 Blue Thin is built on patented Subthreshold Power Optimized Technology (SPOT) platform, providing 1MB of flash storage and 10 uA/MHz efficiency, with secure storage of reference data and quick activation when the fingerprint sensor is used.

“Ambiq is proud to partner with Feitian in empowering its latest biometric solutions to help provide a safe and secure environment post COVID,” states Ambiq Vice President of Sales Aaron Grassian. “The Apollo family of MCU and BLE-enabled processors leads the market in energy efficiency and user experience.”

The chip also gives Feitian’s OTP Token a lifespan of up to five years, and enables the latest iePass FIDO Security Key for passwordless Hybrid Microsoft Azure AD logins.

Article Topics

Ambiq  |  biometric cards  |  biometrics  |  Feitian Technologies  |  FIDO Alliance  |  fingerprint authentication  |  microcontroller