A reliable PUF in a dual function SRAM

Zwolinski, Mark and Mispan, Mohd Syafiq and Duan, Shengyu and Halak, Basel (2019) A reliable PUF in a dual function SRAM. Integration, 68. pp. 12-21. ISSN 0167-9260

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Abstract

The Internet of Things (IoTs) employs resource-constrained sensor nodes for sensing and processing data that require robust, lightweight cryptographic primitives. The SRAM Physical Unclonable Function (SRAM-PUF) is a potential candidate for secure key generation. An SRAM-PUF is able to generate random and unique cryptographic keys based on start-up values by exploiting intrinsic manufacturing process variations. The reuse of the available on-chip SRAM memory in a system as a PUF might achieve useful cost efficiency. However, as CMOS technology scales down, aging-induced Negative Bias Temperature Instability (NBTI) becomes more pronounced resulting in asymmetric degradation of memory bit cells after prolonged storage of the same bit values. This causes unreliable start-up values for an SRAM-PUF. In this paper, the on-chip memory in the ARM architecture has been used as a case study to investigate reliability in an SRAM-PUF. We show that the bit probability in a 32-bit ARM instruction cache has a predictable pattern and hence predictable aging. Therefore, we propose using an instruction cache as a PUF to save silicon area. Furthermore, we propose a bit selection technique to mitigate the NBTI effect. We show that this technique can reduce the predicted bit error in an SRAM-PUF from 14.18% to 5.58% over 5 years. Consequently, as the bit error reduces, the area overhead of the error-correction circuitry is about 6 × smaller compared to that without a bit selection technique.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Aging, Physical unclonable function, SRAM, Reliability
Subjects:	T Technology > T Technology (General) T Technology > TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering
Divisions:	Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technology > Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering Technology
Depositing User:	Mohd Hannif Jamaludin
Date Deposited:	15 Jun 2020 12:41
Last Modified:	17 Aug 2023 16:16
URI:	http://eprints.utem.edu.my/id/eprint/24066
Statistic Details:	View Download Statistic

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