Granted Patent B2

US 12,381,747 · App. 18/447,983 · Granted Aug 5, 2025

Inventors: Robert Abbott (Hsinchu, TW); Saman M. I. Adham (Hsinchu, TW); Peter Noel (Kanata, CA)

Assignee: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.

H04L9/3278G06F21/44H04L9/0643H04L9/0866H04L9/0869

Abstract

Claims (75)

1. A method of authenticating a device, the method comprising:

sending, by a device, an authentication request to a server;

receiving, by the device in response to sending the authentication request, helper data from the server, the helper data comprising a challenge for a physically unclonable function located on the device and an obfuscated stable bitmap of a noisy response corresponding to the challenge;

generating the noisy first response from the physically unclonable function using the first challenge;

generating a device response from the noisy first response and the obfuscated stable bitmap;

sending the device response to the server; and

receiving an authentication response from the server.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the device response from the noisy first response and the obfuscated stable bitmap comprises:

generating a noisy stable response from the noisy first response and an unstable bitmap of the noisy first response;

generating a key from the obfuscated stable bitmap and the noisy stable response;

generating a stable bitmap from the key and the obfuscated stable bitmap; and

hashing the stable bitmap and the key.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

generating the unstable bitmap of the noisy first response.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein generating the key comprises:

generating a noisy first random number from the obfuscated stable bitmap of the noisy first response and the noisy stable response;

decoding the noisy first random number to generate a first random number; and

encoding the first random number to generate the key.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating a plurality of challenge response pairs for the physically unclonable function;

generating an error code comprising the obfuscated stable bitmap for each of the plurality of challenge response pairs; and

providing the challenge response pairs and the error code for each of the challenge response pairs to the server.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein generating the error code comprising the obfuscated stable bitmap comprises:

generating a stable bitmap of a noisy response corresponding to each challenge; and

obfuscating the stable bitmap.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein obfuscating the stable bitmap comprises obfuscating the stable bitmap with one of the following: a first random number and an encoded first random number.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the error code further comprises an obfuscated unstable bitmap, wherein generating the error code comprising the obfuscated unstable bitmap comprises:

generating a unstable bitmap of a noisy response corresponding to each challenge; and

obfuscating the unstable bitmap.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein obfuscating the unstable bitmap comprises obfuscating the unstable bitmap with a second random number.

10. A device comprising:

a Physically Unclonable Function (PUF) operative to generate a noisy first response to a first challenge; and

a key generator comprising a processor and a memory coupled to the processor, the memory comprising instructions which when executed by the processor causes the key generator to be operative to:

generate a device response from the noisy first response and an obfuscated stable bitmap of the noisy first response;

sending the device response to a server; and

receiving an authentication response from the server.

11. The device of claim 10 , wherein the key generator being operative to generate the device response from the noisy first response and the obfuscated stable bitmap comprises the key generator being operative to:

generate a noisy stable response from the noisy first response and an unstable bitmap of the noisy first response;

generate a key from the obfuscated stable bitmap and the noisy stable response;

generate a stable bitmap from the key and the obfuscated stable bitmap; and

hash the stable bitmap and the key.

12. The device of claim 11 , wherein the key generator is further operative to:

generate the unstable bitmap of the noisy first response.

13. The device of claim 11 , wherein the key generator being operative to generate the key comprises the key generator being operative to:

generate a noisy first random number from the obfuscated stable bitmap of the noisy first response and the noisy stable response;

decode the noisy first random number to generate a first random number; and

encode the first random number to generate the key.

14. The device of claim 10 , wherein the key generator is further operative to:

generate a plurality of challenge response pairs for the PUF;

generate an error code comprising the obfuscated stable bitmap for each of the plurality of challenge response pairs; and

provide the challenge response pairs and the error code for each of the challenge response pairs to the server.

15. The device of claim 10 , wherein a relationship between the noisy first response and the first challenge is defined by a PUF function F (x), and wherein the PUF function F (x) is a unique function such that when the PUF is presented with the first challenge it generates a unique noisy first response.

16. The device of claim 10 , wherein the PUF 116 comprises one of the following: a ring oscillator (RO) PUF, an arbiter PUF, and a static random access memory (SRAM) PUF.

17. A system for authenticating a device, the system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory operatively connected to the processor, the memory storing computer executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to execute a method that comprises:

sending an authentication request to a server;

receiving, in response to sending the authentication request, helper data from the server, the helper data comprising a challenge for a physically unclonable function located on the device and an error code;

generating the noisy response from the physically unclonable function using the first challenge;

generating a device response from the noisy first response and the error code;

sending the device response to the server; and

receiving an authentication response from the server.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the error conde comprises an obfuscated stable bitmap of the noisy first response, and wherein generating the device response from the noisy first response and the error code comprises:

generating a noisy stable response from the noisy first response and an unstable bitmap of the noisy first response;

generating a key from the obfuscated stable bitmap and the noisy stable response;

generating a stable bitmap from the key and the obfuscated stable bitmap; and

hashing the stable bitmap and the key.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein generating the key comprises:

generating a noisy first random number from the obfuscated stable bitmap of the noisy first response and the noisy stable response;

decoding the noisy first random number to generate a first random number; and

encoding the first random number to generate the key.

20. The system of claim 18 , wherein the method further comprises:

generating a plurality of challenge response pairs for the physically unclonable function;

generating an error code comprising the obfuscated stable bitmap for each of the plurality of challenge response pairs; and

providing the challenge response pairs and the error code for each of the challenge response pairs to the server.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (4)

References Cited (37)