Hsinchu, Taiwan and Gothenburg, Sweden, 7th September 2026 - Nuvoton Technology Corporation, a global leader in embedded controller and secure IC solutions, and Antmicro, a provider of open source tools and commercial support for vertically integrated, software-driven development of hardware systems, announced today their collaboration towards supporting Nuvoton chips in Antmicro’s open source Renode simulation framework. Both long-time suppliers of technology for Google’s Chromebooks and server systems, the companies’ partnership builds on top of existing Renode support for the first production-ready OpenTitan silicon by Nuvoton, the NPCR1 OpenTitan Earl Grey Based Secure MCU IC and their joint work with the OpenTitan open source silicon Root of Trust (RoT) initiative.
In early 2024, in collaboration with the Google ChromeOS team, Antmicro added support for the first Nuvoton platform in the Renode open source simulation framework - the ARM Cortex-M4-based NPCX9 used in Google’s Chromebook products. The NPCX9 support includes UART, SPI, ITIM32 timer, TWD module, MTC timer and parts of the Nuvoton Cryptographic Library, as needed for the testing of the Chromebook EC platform.
Nuvoton’s NPCR1 Secure MCU IC platform, this time employing a RISC-V core, features a low-power secure microcontroller based on the OpenTitan Earl Grey design. Renode already offers support for OpenTitan as well as hundreds of reusable building blocks, which simplifies introducing support for new OpenTitan-based platforms even before hardware availability.
Nuvoton’s NPCR1 OpenTitan Earl Grey Based Secure MCU IC use cases and Renode support
Developed in tight collaboration with the lowRISC CIC within the collaborative OpenTitan project, Nuvoton’s new chip is dedicated for Root Of Trust (RoT) applications, but can also serve other security use cases. Based on a custom RISC-V core and featuring secure accelerators and SPI/I2C/UART/USB/GPIO interfaces, it offers embedded protection against side-channel attacks, fault injection and physical attacks, targeting FIPS140-3 level 1 with physical security level 3 and Common Criteria with the BSI-CC-PP-0084-2014 protection profile. On top of that, the platform supports Life Cycle management and secure ownership transfer. Thanks to support in Renode, users can already start developing, testing and debugging their first projects based on the new platform taking advantage of Renode’s versatile simulation capabilities.
“Simulation-based testing is crucial in improving the overall security of complete software-hardware systems. At Nuvoton, we recognize this and actively work towards delivering best-in-class secure chips with a robust tooling ecosystem”, said Ran Klier, OpenTitan Project Manager at Nuvoton. “We are confident that making new Nuvoton platforms available in Renode will enable joint customers to build products based on modern Root of Trust solutions more quickly and reliably.”
Renode also offers support for other Nuvoton platforms – the NPCX9 mentioned above, as well as initial support for related devices such as NPCX7 and NPCX4 that were added later. Developers are encouraged to explore these and more in System Designer, an interactive portal that combines Antmicro’s proven, software-first methodologies, workflows and tools with a database of hardware blocks, SoCs and components. A multitude of Zephyr RTOS demos are available for each device, allowing developers to reproduce them – locally or in IDE – as well as learn more about the components, generate HBOMs, check execution trace data, and even visualize entire projects in a structured fashion.
“Our ongoing collaboration with Nuvoton leverages Renode to provide reliable simulation of secure chips, already reflected in joint efforts around Google’s Chromebooks with support for NPCX9; this is now this extended with the new RISC-V-based OpenTitan chip series”, said Michael Gielda, Co-Founder and VP Business Development at Antmicro. “We are excited to jointly make commercial-grade RISC-V-enabled silicon available in Renode, allowing for rapid product development and comprehensive testing.”
OpenTitan and other security features in Renode
The open source OpenTitan Root of Trust project provides secure, tested, and transparent building blocks and infrastructure for designing and implementing trusted computing systems. Renode supports OpenTitan and its standard Earl Grey configuration – the OpenTitan Earl Grey Renode platform includes blocks such as KMAC, CSRNG or the OpenTitan Big Number Accelerator (OTBN) to simulate a range of its cryptographic features, on top of numerous standard peripherals. You can find out more about Renode’s support for OpenTitan in a dedicated article.
Antmicro’s open source Renode framework offers a replicable and scalable approach to security testing of both consumer and industrial products, with pre-silicon prototyping capabilities and a broad coverage of security-first SoCs, including configurable support for RISC-V platforms.
Develop secure Nuvoton-based products with Antmicro
With Antmicro’s track record of supporting security-focused projects, including OpenTitan and Caliptra – another RoT Antmicro has been actively contributing to, joint customers benefit from access to comprehensive tooling and engineering services that can jump-start development and testing of their next secure device.
Customers interested in developing secure Data Center systems using Nuvoton’s RoT solutions and Antmicro’s tools and services, can reach out at contact@antmicro.com.
About Antmicro
Antmicro is a technology company providing engineering services and tools for fast-turnaround development of specialized software and hardware, FPGA and ASIC designs, cloud solutions and AI for industries including semiconductors, automotive, robotics, defense, space and consumer electronics. The company’s open source workflows and toolchains enable customizability and transparency, and drive vertical integration through complete ownership of the technology stack.
In-house technologies cover the full product development lifecycle from concept, simulation and prototyping to product development and in-field deployment. They include the flagship open source system simulation framework, Renode (renode.io), the RDFM OTA update system (github.com/antmicro/rdfm), the Kenning AI library (github.com/antmicro/kenning), and the System Designer portal (designer.antmicro.com).
Antmicro is a Strategic Founding Member of RISC-V International, Platinum Member of Zephyr Project and CHIPS Alliance, as well as a member of Linux Foundation. For more information, visit antmicro.com and learn more about services at offering.antmicro.com.
About Nuvoton Technology
Nuvoton Technology Corporation (Nuvoton) was founded to bring innovative semiconductor solutions to the market. Nuvoton was spun-off as a Winbond Electronics affiliate in July 2008 and went public in September 2010 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE). Nuvoton focuses on the development of microcontroller, microprocessor, smart home, cloud security IC, battery monitoring IC, components, visual sensing and IoT with security. The company has a strong market share in Industrial, Automotive, Communication, Consumer and Computer markets. Nuvoton owns 6-inch wafer fabs equipped with diversified processing technologies to provide professional wafer foundry services. Nuvoton provides products with a high performance/cost ratio for its customers by leveraging flexible technology, advanced design capability, and integration of digital and analog technologies. Nuvoton values long term relationships with its partners and customers and is dedicated to continuous innovation of its products, processes, and services. Nuvoton has established subsidiaries in the USA, China, Israel, India, Singapore, Korea and Japan to strengthen regional customer support and global management. For more information, please visit www.nuvoton.com.
