PUF Challenge Space Partitioning for Secure Multi-Entity Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing PUF technologies are limited in access control, often restricted to a single entity or accessible by everyone, making them unsuitable for generating cryptographic keys and vulnerable to cross-context attacks.
Innovation Solution
Implementing PUF slicing by dividing a single PUF into multiple slices, each accessible only to specific entities, with controlled challenge spaces and credentials, enabling secure key generation and authentication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a single PUF is made accessible to multiple entities, then versatility and utility are improved, but security and resistance to cross-context attacks deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The PUF challenge space is segmented into multiple disjoint subsets, with each subset assigned to a specific entity. The controller divides the challenge space such that each entity can only access PUF challenges from its assigned subset, preventing cross-context attacks while maintaining multi-entity versatility. This segmentation is implemented through challenge space partitioning and entity-specific challenge assignment mechanisms.
2Reliability
If access control is restricted to a single entity, then security is improved, but adaptability and multi-entity utility worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The PUF system is designed with multi-functionality to serve multiple entities simultaneously while maintaining security. The controller implements entity identification and challenge space assignment mechanisms that allow the same PUF hardware to securely serve multiple entities. Each entity receives customized challenge subsets based on its credentials, enabling universal access control without compromising individual security requirements.
3Ease of operation
If the entire challenge space is exposed to all entities, then ease of operation is improved, but information leakage and vulnerability to attacks increase
Solution Approach 1:
Each entity is assigned a specific local portion (subset) of the PUF challenge space based on its credentials and authorization level. This local quality approach ensures that entities only access challenges appropriate to their entity type and security clearance, preventing information leakage to unauthorized entities while maintaining ease of operation within authorized boundaries. The controller manages this local access through credential verification and challenge subset assignment.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods are disclosed herein for implementing a secure hardware component by dividing a single Physically Unclonable Function (PUF) into several PUF challenge space subsets and mapping each subset to each requesting entity. In one example of the secure hardware component, the controller divides a challenge space of the PUF into multiple challenge space subsets and performs a mapping of allowed requesting entities to the plurality of challenge space subsets, respectively. The secure hardware component receives a request for an output from the requesting entity, which comprises a set of parameters. The controller determines whether the request is a valid request based on the set of parameters and forwards the challenge to the response generation subsystem. The response generation subsystem generates the output based on the challenge and forwards it to the requesting entity.