Accelerating Development of Profido—A Secure Wireless Authentication Device

Profido’s vision to redefine electronic authentication introduced significant technical hurdles that needed outsourcing. Thanks to our deep knowledge of hardware and software we were able to support Valmido with: 

Hardware Integration 

• Profido’s custom board, built around Nordic’s nRF53 MCU, combined a thin rechargeable battery, wireless charging electronics, and a compact e-ink display. 

• Achieving seamless operation in a credit-card-sized form factor required collaboration and iterative refinements to address hardware design and debugging complexities, ensuring optimal performance. 

FIDO2 Protocol Adaptation 

• Extending the Solokey library to support FIDO2 over BLE, as the library initially supported only USB HID. 

• Adding fingerprint-based authentication as a second factor, where only PIN authentication was supported initially. 

Firmware Update Complexity 

• Designing a dual-CPU update mechanism for the nRF53’s application and network processors while ensuring robust rollback capabilities and preventing system failures. 

Enhancing Capabilities Through Partnership 

• Valmido partnered with Witekio to complement their in-house team’s expertise and tackle the embedded software challenges required to bring Profido to life. 

Hardware Debugging and Optimization 

• Collaborative debugging identified opportunities to refine the hardware design, ensuring compatibility and stability. For instance, issues with the quartz oscillator causing sporadic faults were resolved by selecting components optimized for the nRF53 MCU. 

• The wireless charging system was redesigned by refining LC circuit components and adding ferrite shields, stabilizing the system while maintaining the compact form factor. 

Custom Software Development 

• Witekio developed Zephyr-compliant drivers for critical hardware components, including the e-ink display, wireless charger, and fingerprint sensor. 

• Extended the Solokey library to support BLE for FIDO2 and implemented fingerprint authentication by: 

• Adding BLE GATT characteristics defined by FIDO2 specifications. 

• Modifying algorithms to enable fingerprint-based identity verification alongside PIN authentication. 

Firmware Update Mechanism 

• Designed a robust dual-CPU update system leveraging Zephyr’s MCUboot. Key improvements included: 

• Ensuring non-disruptive updates with rollback capabilities. 

• Addressing unique challenges in managing the independent flash memories of the application and network processors. 

Knowledge Transfer and Documentation 

• Witekio provided documentation and training to Valmido’s team, empowering them to maintain and scale the product effectively for future development. 

Accelerated Development Timeline 

• Witekio’s involvement helped with the resolution of critical hardware and software challenges, keeping the projects idea viable. 

Enhanced Product Features 

• Profido supports BLE-based wireless communication and authentication, with seamless fingerprint verification, positioning it as a strong competitor to USB-based solutions. 

Reliable System Updates 

• The dual-CPU update mechanism ensures robust system updates and resilience against update failures, supporting long-term reliability. 

Robust Foundation for Growth 

• Valmido is well-positioned to scale its product line and maintain a competitive edge in the electronic authentication market.