Method and system for protecting products and technology from integrated circuits which have been subject to tampering, stressing and replacement as well as detecting integrated circuits that have been subject to tampering
View Patent ↗A system employs physical unclonable functions of an integrated circuit for detecting integrated circuits and protecting products and technology from integrated circuits which have been subject to tampering, stressing and replacement, and counterfeit components. The system includes a sensor detecting a characteristic impedance generated as a result of controlled access to a memory device of the integrated circuit. The characteristic impedance is applied in the creation of a discrimination matrix of values based on electrical interface signals for the integrated circuit. The sensor includes a ring oscillator and associated monitoring components. The ring oscillator is composed of the memory device of the integrated circuit and a sensory circuitry, wherein changes in a frequency generated by the ring oscillator is indicative of changes in circuitry.
1. A system employing physical unclonable functions of an integrated circuit for detecting integrated circuits and protecting products and technology from integrated circuits which have been subject to tampering, stressing and replacement, comprising:
the sensor detecting a characteristic impedance generated as a result of controlled access to a memory device of the integrated circuit, the characteristic impedance applied in creation of a discrimination matrix of values based on electrical interface signals for the integrated circuit;
the sensor includes a ring oscillator and associated monitoring components, the ring oscillator is composed of the memory device of the integrated circuit and a sensory circuitry, wherein changes in a frequency generated by the ring oscillator is indicative of changes in circuitry;
wherein the memory device is the delay function and the data values are equal to the address values and the frequency of the ring oscillator is a direct function of Address/Data pairs of the memory device of the integrated circuit and Address bits of the memory device are held constant and frequency of oscillation resulting from the ring oscillator is a function of the propagation delay and impedance of the Address bits and Data bits accessed under control of a control function.
2. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the ring oscillator includes a logical inverter function and a delay function.
3. The system according to claim 2 , wherein data values of the memory device are the inverse of the address values of the memory device, and the memory device is the inverter function.
4. The system according to claim 1 , wherein the memory device is the delay function and the data values are equal to the address values.
5. A system employing physical unclonable functions of an integrated circuit for detecting integrated circuits and protecting products and technology from integrated circuits which have been subject to tampering, stressing and replacement, comprising:
a sensor detecting a characteristic impedance generated as a result of controlled access to a memory device of the integrated circuit, the characteristic impedance applied in creation of a discrimination matrix of values based on electrical interface signals for the integrated circuit;
the sensor includes a ring oscillator and associated monitoring components, the ring oscillator is composed of the memory device of the integrated circuit and a sensory circuitry, wherein changes in a frequency generated by the ring oscillator is indicative of changes in circuitry;
wherein the frequency of the ring oscillator is a direct function of Address/Data pairs of the memory device of the integrated circuit and the discrimination matrix is developed identifying individual Address/Data pairs for consideration in distinguishing and identifying the integrated circuit.
6. The system according to claim 5 , further including a state machine that counts through all possible Address/Data pairs.
7. The system according to claim 5 , wherein the discrimination matrix represents the characteristic impedance of the ring oscillator based upon different Address/Data pairs.
8. The system according to claim 5 , wherein the sensory circuitry is implemented in a PLD.
9. The system according to claim 5 , wherein the sensory circuitry is implemented in a ASIC.
10. The system according to claim 5 , wherein the sensory circuitry is implemented in a processor.
11. A system for authenticating integrated circuits and protecting products and technology from integrated circuits which have been subject to tampering, stressing and replacement, comprising:
a sensor detecting time delays in retrieval of data bits based upon address bits as a result of controlled access to a memory device of the integrated circuit, the time delays applied in creation of a discrimination matrix of values based on electrical interface signals for the integrated circuit;
the sensor includes the memory device of the integrated circuit in communication with a sensory circuitry, wherein changes in time delays are indicative of changes in circuitry;
wherein the time delays are a direct function of Address/Data pairs of the memory device of the integrated circuit and the discrimination matrix is developed identifying individual Address/Data pairs for consideration in distinguishing and identifying the integrated circuit.
12. The system according to claim 11 , wherein data values of the memory device are the inverse of the address values of the memory device, and the memory device is the inverter function.
13. The system according to claim 11 , further including a state machine that counts through all possible Address/Data pairs.
14. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the sensory circuitry is implemented in a PLD.
15. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the sensory circuitry is implemented in a ASIC.
16. The system according to claim 11 , wherein the sensory circuitry is implemented in a processor.