As the number of electric vehicles (EVs) on the road increases, charging infrastructure must also expand to support this growing demand. For this reason, the European Union has mandated that EV chargers accept credit card payments that meet Payment Card Industry (PCI) security standards, and this is becoming standard practice in many countries.

Microchip Technology Inc., a leading provider of microcontroller (MCU), mixed-signal, analog and Flash-IP solutions, today announced the availability of its MXT2952TD 2.0 family of controllers, which extend security features to touchscreens to help EV charger developers secure their payment architectures.

Payment systems based on technology that combines a typical touch Human Machine Interface (HMI) and a Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) are vulnerable to hacking attacks through malicious software updates or man-in-the-middle attacks when users enter their personal identification number (PIN) on the touchscreen.

Therefore, physical mesh barriers and sensors are often used around these integrated circuits (ICs) to protect them from hacking. Continuous software reflashing and device resets help protect software integrity.

The MXT2952TD 2.0 family encrypts touch data and authenticates software updates to minimize risk and is designed to comply with PCI compliance standards. Building a physical barrier to hacking is particularly difficult and expensive when the RFID reader IC and touchscreen controller are located on different printed circuit boards (PCBs). The embedded firmware in the MXT2952TD 2.0 makes it easier for EV charger manufacturers to implement a solution that complies with security regulations and reduces costs by eliminating the need to add expensive touchscreen payment modules to the charger.

For outdoor use, EV charger HMIs must withstand harsh weather conditions, operate flawlessly in wet conditions, and be highly durable. The touchscreen based on the MXT2952TD 2.0 touch controller is designed with 6mm-thick IK10-compliant glass, anti-reflective, anti-glare, anti-fingerprint coatings, and IR/UV filter layers to maintain effective performance. Furthermore, Microchip's differential touch sensing offers excellent noise immunity, enabling superior touch performance even when wearing thick gloves.

The MXT2952TD 2.0 family is suitable for most unmanned outdoor payment terminals, such as EV chargers, parking meters, bus ticketing meters, and other types of POS systems. The 2952TD 2.0 is specifically optimized for the 20-inch screen size, while its sister product, the MXT1664TD, is available for the 15.6-inch screen size.

“The maXTouch 2952TD 2.0 family provides electric vehicle charging station designers with a cost-effective and secure design architecture for implementing credit card payments with PIN entry on a touchscreen,” said Patrick Johnson, senior vice president of Microchip’s Human Machine Interface (HMI) business unit. “Combined with the rugged, outdoor HMI touchscreen technology of Microchip’s maXTouch family, the new 2952TD touchscreen controller family provides customers with the secure design and superior touch performance required for outdoor applications.”