Integrated silicon circuit comprising a physicallly non-reproducible function, and method and system for testing such a circuit
US8867739B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 10, 2011 |
| Grant date | Oct 21, 2014 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 9, 2031 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L2209/26
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A silicon integrated circuit includes a physically non-copyable function LPUF that generates a signature specific to the circuit. The function includes a ring oscillator composed of a loop traversed by a signal. The loop is formed of N topologically identical chains of lags connected in series and an inversion gate, a chain of lags being composed of M delay elements connected in series. The function also includes a control module generating N control words being used to configure the value of the delays introduced by the chains of lags on the signal traversing them. A measurement module measures the frequency of the signal at the output of the last chain of lags after updating the control words, and the control module can deduce from the frequency measurements the bits making up the signature of the circuit. A method and a system for testing such circuits are also provided.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.