Multi-stage non-linearly cascaded physically unclonable function circuit

1. An apparatus to provide non-linearly cascaded multi-stage machine-learning attack resistant physically unclonable function (PUF) with a unique unpredictable response to an input challenge, the apparatus comprising:

a first stage of physically unclonable function (PUF) circuits to receive an n-bit challenge, wherein the first stage of PUF circuits comprise a first subset of n PUF cells each of which is to generate an output bit;

a second stage of PUF circuits to receive the output bits from the first subset of n PUF cells, wherein the second stage of PUF circuits comprise a second subset of m PUF cells, wherein each PUF cell of the second subset is to generate an output bit; and

a compare logic to compare the output bits of the second subset of m PUF cells with one another, and to generate a response bit in accordance with the comparison, wherein n is an integer, wherein m is an integer, and wherein m is less than n, wherein the compare logic comprises an exclusive-OR (XOR) gate, wherein input nodes of the XOR gate receive the output bits of the second subset of m PUF cells to compare the output bits with one another, wherein the first subset of n PUF cells is n/2 PUF cells, and wherein the second subset of m PUF cells is n/4 PUF cells.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the PUF cells of the first and second stages comprise cross-coupled inverters with multiple pull-down and pull-up legs.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the n-bit challenge is used to generate an internal 1-hot n-bit challenge.

4. An apparatus to provide non-linearly cascaded multi-stage machine-learning attack resistant physically unclonable function (PUF) with a unique unpredictable response to an input challenge, the apparatus comprising:

a first physically unclonable function (PUF) circuit to receive a first pair of bits and a second pair of bits;

a second PUF circuit to receive the first pair of bits and the second pair of bits;

a third PUF circuit to receive a third pair of bits and a fourth pair of bits;

a fourth PUF circuit to receive the third pair of bits and the fourth pair of bits; and

a fifth PUF circuit to receive a first pair of output bits comprising a first output bit from the first PUF circuit, and a second output bit from the second PUF circuit, wherein the fifth PUF circuit is to receive a second pair of output bits comprising a first output bit from the third PUF circuit and a second output bit from the fourth PUF circuit,

wherein the first, second, third, and fourth pair of bits are a set of challenge bits for use in a challenge-response function, and wherein the output of the XOR gate is a response output.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 comprises a sixth PUF circuit to receive the first and second pairs of output bits.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 comprises a compare logic to receive outputs from the fifth and sixth PUF circuits, and to generate an output.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the compare logic comprises an exclusive-OR gate.

8. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein at least one of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth PUF circuits comprises cross-coupled inverters with multiple pull-down and pull-up legs.

9. A system comprising:

a memory;

a processor coupled to the memory, wherein the processor is to provide non-linearly cascaded multi-stage machine-learning attack resistant physically unclonable function (PUF) with a unique unpredictable response to an input challenge, wherein the processor comprises:

a first stage of physically unclonable function (PUF) circuits to receive an n-bit challenge, wherein the first stage of PUF circuits comprise n/2 PUF cells each of which is to generate an output bit;

a second stage of PUF circuits to receive the output bits from the n/2 PUF cells, wherein the second stage of PUF circuits comprise n/4 PUF cells each of which is to generate an output bit; and

a compare logic to compare the output bits of the n/4 PUF cells with one another, and to generate a response bit according to the comparison, wherein ‘n’ is an integer, wherein the compare logic comprises an exclusive-OR (XOR) gate, and wherein input nodes of the XOR gate receive the output bits from the n/2 PUT cells to compare the output bits with one another; and

a wireless interface to allow the processor to communicate with another device.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the PUF cells of the first and second stages comprise cross-coupled inverters with multiple pull-down and pull-up legs.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the n-bit challenge is a 1-hot n-bit challenge.

12. An apparatus to provide non-linearly cascaded multi-stage machine-learning attack resistant physically unclonable function (PUF) with a unique unpredictable response to an input challenge, the apparatus comprising:

a stage of physically unclonable function (PUF) circuits to receive an n-bit challenge, wherein the stage of PUF circuits comprise a subset of n PUF cells each of which is to generate an output bit; and

a stage of cipher blocks to receive the output bits from the subset of n PUF cells, wherein the stage of cipher blocks is to generate a plurality of bits, wherein each cipher block is to encrypt the output bits, received from the subset of n PUF cells,

wherein the stage of PUF circuits is a first stage of PUF circuits, wherein the stage of cipher blocks is a first stage of cipher blocks, wherein the apparatus comprises a second stage of PUF circuits to receive the plurality of bits from the first stage of cipher blocks, and wherein the second stage of PUF circuits comprise a subset of m PUF cells each of which is to generate an output bit.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 comprises a compare logic to receive the output bits from the subset of m PUF cells of the second stage of PUF circuits, wherein the compare logic is to generate a response output for the n-bit challenge.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the compare logic comprises an exclusive-OR gate.

15. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the n-bit challenge is used to generate an internal 1-hot n-bit challenge.

16. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the PUF cells of the first and second stages comprise cross-coupled inverters with multiple pull-down and pull-up legs.

17. The apparatus of claim 12 , wherein the stage of cipher blocks comprises one of:

AES S-box,

Skein hash function,

Whirlpool hash function S-box,

El-Gamal encryption,

RSA encryption,

Schonorr signature, or

PFP (pretty good privacy) encryption.

18. An apparatus comprising:

a first stage of physically unclonable function (PUF) cells comprising:

a first physically unclonable function (PUF) circuit to receive a first pair of bits and a second pair of bits;

a second PUF circuit to receive the first pair of bits and the second pair of bits;

a third PUF circuit to receive a third pair of bits and a fourth pair of bits; and

a fourth PUF circuit to receive the third pair of bits and the fourth pair of bits;

a second stage of PUF cells comprising:

a fifth PUF circuit to receive a first pair of output bits comprising a first output bit from the first PUF circuit, and a second output bit from the second PUF circuit, wherein the fifth PUF circuit is to receive a second pair of output bits comprising a first output bit from the third PUF circuit and a second output bit from the fourth PUF circuit; and

a sixth PUF circuit to receive the first and second pairs of output bits; and

a XOR gate to receive outputs from the fifth and sixth PUF circuits, and to generate an output,

wherein the first, second, third, and fourth pair of bits are a set of challenge bits for use in a challenge-response function, and wherein the output of the XOR gate is a response output.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein at least one of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth PUF circuits comprises cross-coupled inverters.

20. The apparatus of claim 18 , wherein the cross-coupled inverters comprises multiple pull-down and pull-up legs.