Physical Unclonable Function Device With Inspection Configuration Tool
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional physical unclonable functions (PUFs) require manual, time-consuming design at the physical level, which is not process agnostic and needs different designs for various manufacturing processes and hardware implementations, making them inefficient for ensuring hardware uniqueness in integrated circuit chips.
Innovation Solution
A tolerant of absolute offsets PUF device that uses physical unclonable function units with transforms to derive bits from outputs, employing an inspection configuration tool to sample outputs, analyze distributions, and configure the device to perform specific transforms, allowing for hardware uniqueness across different manufacturing processes and implementations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If physical unclonable functions are designed at the physical level to ensure hardware uniqueness, then each manufactured chip becomes unique based on random manufacturing variations, but the design process becomes time-consuming and requires different designs for each manufacturing process
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the design approach from physical-level to logical-level abstraction. Instead of manually designing physical layouts for each manufacturing process, the invention uses a logical design that automatically adapts to different processes through parameterization. The PUF device is defined by logical characteristics (signal path delays, latch strengths, capacitances) rather than fixed physical geometries, allowing automatic generation of process-specific implementations from a single logical design.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the PUF design into multiple independent signal paths or logic circuits, each contributing to the overall unique identifier. This segmentation allows the design to be composed of modular units that can be automatically instantiated and configured for different manufacturing processes, reducing the time required to create process-specific designs while maintaining hardware uniqueness through the combined effect of segmented components.
2Adaptability or versatility
If physical unclonable functions are designed manually at the physical level, then process-specific customization is achieved, but the design process becomes inefficient when implementing across multiple manufacturing processes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal logical design for PUF devices that can be instantiated across multiple manufacturing processes and hardware implementations. The logical-level specification serves as a process-agnostic template that automatically adapts to different fabrication technologies, tool nodes, and hardware platforms. This universal design approach eliminates the need to create separate physical designs for each process, thereby improving design efficiency while maintaining adaptability to process-specific characteristics through automatic parameter adjustment.
3Reliability
If conventional physical unclonable functions are used, then hardware uniqueness is achieved through random manufacturing variations, but the design requires different physical layouts for each manufacturing process
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamics into the PUF design by making the physical implementation adaptable rather than static. The logical design automatically adjusts its physical manifestation based on the target manufacturing process characteristics. This dynamic adaptation allows the same logical design to produce process-appropriate physical layouts, reducing design complexity while preserving hardware uniqueness through the inherent randomness of manufacturing variations in each process.
Data Source
AI summary
This application discloses a physical unclonable function device including physical unclonable function units, each capable of generating an output. The physical unclonable function device can utilize transforms to derive bits from the outputs and utilize the derived bits to generate an identifier for the physical unclonable function device. An inspection configuration tool can sample multiple outputs from each of the physical unclonable function units, identify a transforms to perform on a future output for each of the physical unclonable function units based on a distribution of values corresponding to the sampled outputs. The inspection configuration tool can configure the physical unclonable function device to perform the transforms on the future outputs of the physical unclonable function units. Embodiments will be described below in greater detail.