<s>
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
is	O
an	O
application	O
platform	O
with	O
built-in	O
communication	O
and	O
security	O
capabilities	O
for	O
internet-connected	B-Operating_System
devices	I-Operating_System
,	O
owned	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
platform	O
consists	O
of	O
integrated	O
hardware	O
built	O
around	O
a	O
secure	O
silicon	O
chip	O
,	O
the	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
OS	O
(	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
for	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
)	O
,	O
a	O
high-end	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
based	O
on	O
Linux	B-Operating_System
,	O
and	O
the	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
Security	O
Service	O
,	O
a	O
cloud-based	O
security	O
service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
security	O
was	O
developed	O
based	O
on	O
Microsoft	O
Research	O
's	O
position	O
on	O
the	O
seven	O
required	O
characteristics	O
of	O
highly	O
secure	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
OS	O
is	O
a	O
custom	O
Linux-based	O
microcontroller	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
created	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
an	O
Azure	O
Sphere-certified	O
chip	O
and	O
to	O
connect	O
to	O
the	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
Security	O
Service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
OS	O
provides	O
a	O
platform	O
for	O
Internet	B-Operating_System
of	I-Operating_System
things	I-Operating_System
application	O
development	O
,	O
including	O
both	O
high-level	O
applications	O
and	O
real-time	O
capable	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
the	O
first	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
running	O
a	O
Linux	B-Operating_System
kernel	I-Operating_System
that	O
Microsoft	O
has	O
publicly	O
released	O
and	O
the	O
second	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
system	I-Operating_System
that	O
the	O
company	O
has	O
developed	O
for	O
external	O
(	O
public	O
)	O
users	O
,	O
the	O
other	O
being	O
Xenix	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
Security	O
Service	O
,	O
sometimes	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
AS3	O
,	O
is	O
a	O
cloud-based	O
service	O
that	O
enables	O
maintenance	O
,	O
updates	O
,	O
and	O
control	O
for	O
Azure	O
Sphere-certified	O
chips	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
Security	O
Service	O
establishes	O
a	O
secure	O
connection	O
between	O
devices	O
and	O
the	O
internet	O
and/or	O
cloud	O
services	O
and	O
ensures	O
secure	O
boot	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
primary	O
purpose	O
of	O
contact	O
between	O
an	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
device	O
and	O
the	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
Security	O
Service	O
is	O
to	O
authenticate	O
the	O
device	O
identity	O
,	O
ensure	O
the	O
integrity	O
and	O
trust	O
of	O
the	O
system	O
software	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
certify	O
that	O
the	O
device	O
is	O
running	O
a	O
trusted	O
code	O
base	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
service	O
also	O
provides	O
the	O
secure	O
channel	O
used	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
to	O
automatically	O
download	O
and	O
install	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
OS	O
updates	O
and	O
customer	O
application	O
updates	O
to	O
deployed	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Greenfield	O
implementation	O
involves	O
designing	O
and	O
building	O
new	O
IoT	B-Operating_System
devices	O
with	O
an	O
Azure	O
Sphere-certified	O
chip	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Azure	O
Sphere-certified	O
chips	O
are	O
currently	O
produced	O
by	O
MediaTek	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
Brownfield	O
implementation	O
involves	O
the	O
use	O
of	O
an	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
guardian	O
device	O
to	O
securely	O
connect	O
an	O
existing	O
device	O
to	O
the	O
internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
guardian	O
modules	O
are	O
currently	O
produced	O
by	O
Avnet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MT3620	O
is	O
the	O
first	O
Azure	O
Sphere-certified	O
chip	O
and	O
includes	O
an	O
ARM	B-Architecture
Cortex-A7	O
processor	O
(	O
500MHz	O
)	O
,	O
two	O
ARM	B-Architecture
Cortex-M4F	O
I/O	O
subsystems	O
(	O
200MHz	O
)	O
,	O
5x	O
UART/I2C/SPI	O
,	O
2x	O
I2S	O
,	O
8x	O
ADC	O
,	O
up	O
to	O
12	O
PWM	O
counters	O
and	O
up	O
to	O
72x	O
GPIO	O
,	O
and	O
Wi-Fi	O
capability	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MT3620	O
contains	O
the	O
Microsoft	O
Pluton	O
security	O
subsystem	O
with	O
a	O
dedicated	O
ARM	B-Architecture
Cortext-M4F	O
core	O
that	O
handles	O
secure	O
boot	O
and	O
secure	O
system	O
operation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
Guardian	O
module	O
is	O
external	O
,	O
add-on	O
hardware	O
that	O
incorporates	O
an	O
Azure	O
Sphere-certified	O
chip	O
and	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
to	O
securely	O
connect	O
an	O
existing	O
device	O
to	O
the	O
internet	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
to	O
an	O
Azure-Sphere	O
certified	O
chip	O
,	O
an	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
Guardian	O
module	O
includes	O
the	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
OS	O
and	O
the	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
Security	O
Service	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pluton	O
is	O
a	O
Microsoft-designed	O
security	O
subsystem	O
that	O
implements	O
a	O
hardware-based	O
root	O
of	O
trust	O
for	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
includes	O
a	O
security	O
processor	O
core	O
,	O
cryptographic	B-Device
engines	I-Device
,	O
a	O
hardware	O
random	O
number	O
generator	O
,	O
public/private	B-Application
key	I-Application
generation	O
,	O
asymmetric	B-Application
and	O
symmetric	B-Algorithm
encryption	I-Algorithm
,	O
support	O
for	O
elliptic	O
curve	O
digital	O
signature	O
algorithm	O
(	O
ECDSA	O
)	O
verification	O
for	O
secured	O
boot	O
,	O
and	O
measured	O
boot	O
in	O
silicon	O
to	O
support	O
remote	O
attestation	O
with	O
a	O
cloud	O
service	O
,	O
and	O
various	O
tampering	O
counter-measures	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Linux-based	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
OS	O
provides	O
a	O
platform	O
for	O
developers	O
to	O
write	O
applications	O
that	O
use	O
peripherals	O
on	O
the	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
chip	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Real-time	O
capable	O
applications	O
can	O
run	O
on	O
either	O
bare	O
metal	O
or	O
with	O
a	O
real-time	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
(	O
RTOS	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Developer	O
applications	O
can	O
be	O
distributed	O
to	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
devices	O
through	O
the	O
same	O
secure	O
mechanism	O
as	O
the	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
OS	O
updates	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
following	O
is	O
a	O
list	O
of	O
announcements	O
and	O
releases	O
from	O
Microsoft	O
around	O
Azure	B-Operating_System
Sphere	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
