A Study of the Optimal Logic Combinations of RO-Based PUFs on FPGAs to Maximize Identifiability

Area of Science:

• Computer Engineering
• Cybersecurity
• Hardware Security

Background:

• Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) require robust security and privacy with low power consumption.
• Physically Unclonable Functions (PUFs) provide device authentication by exploiting manufacturing variations.
• Identifiability is a critical property for PUF performance in WSNs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze different oscillator architectures for constructing effective Ring Oscillator-based PUFs (RO-PUFs).
• To investigate Generalized Galois Ring Oscillators (GenGAROs) for optimizing PUF identifiability.
• To develop a design methodology for high-identifiability RO-PUFs on FPGAs.

Main Methods:

• Studied various GenGARO architectures, a novel oscillator type combining logical operations.
• Implemented and analyzed GenGARO-PUFs on an Artix-FPGA.
• Conducted an exhaustive study of logic gate combinations to optimize PUF identifiability.

Main Results:

• Identified specific logic gates and constraints that significantly improve PUF identifiability.
• Achieved an equal error rate (EER) of 10⁻¹¹ or lower with 100-bit responses for optimized PUFs.
• Developed a design methodology for generating high-identifiability PUF primitives.

Conclusions:

• GenGAROs offer a promising approach for designing secure and identifiable PUFs.
• The proposed design methodology enables the creation of robust RO-PUFs for WSNs.
• Optimized GenGARO-PUFs contribute to enhanced security and privacy in low-power WSN applications.