Physically unclonable functions based on non-linearity of sub-threshold operation
US8938069B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 3, 2013 |
| Grant date | Jan 20, 2015 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 30, 2033 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L9/08
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
An electronic circuit for implementing a physically unclonable function. The electronic circuit includes duplicate circuits, referred to as “circuit primitives,” that generate a first and a second output voltage based on the received input, referred to as a “challenge.” The electronic circuit further includes a comparator coupled to the circuit primitives and generates an output based on the difference between the first and second output voltages. While the circuit primitives contain duplicate circuitry, the circuit primitives may generate a different output voltage due to a particular set of transistors in the circuit primitives operating in the sub-threshold region whose gates are tied to ground and whose sub-threshold current, the magnitude of which is random based on the threshold voltage variation of the set of transistors, is used to affect the value of the output voltage.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.