Enhancing IoT security with threshold switching-based unified security primitives

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Electrical Engineering
• Computer Science

Background:

• The proliferation of big data and the Internet of Things (IoT) necessitates advanced secure hardware solutions.
• Current IoT ecosystems face challenges in integrating robust security features efficiently.
• Hardware security is paramount for protecting vast networks and sensitive data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a unified security hardware module integrating Physically Unclonable Function (PUF) and true random number generator (TRNG) functionalities.
• To leverage threshold switching (TS) memristor technology for creating novel, high-performance security hardware.
• To address the integration and energy efficiency challenges in IoT security hardware.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a 32x32 1T1R array using threshold switching (TS) memristor cells based on FeO films.
• Characterization of the chemical and electrical properties of the TS memristor devices.
• Implementation of a PUF system and a TRNG utilizing the CTR_DRBG algorithm.
• Performance evaluation through Hamming distance analysis, baking tests, and NIST-900 statistical tests.

Main Results:

• The TS memristor devices demonstrated good cyclic stability and randomness.
• The PUF system achieved excellent uniformity, uniqueness, and robustness, with a low bit-error rate (<1.5%) after extended high-temperature testing.
• The TRNG passed all National Institute of Standards and Technology-900 tests, indicating high-quality random number generation.
• Significant improvements were observed in energy consumption ( >30% reduction) and random number generation rate ( >20% increase) compared to existing solutions.

Conclusions:

• The developed unified security hardware effectively integrates PUF and TRNG functions using TS memristor technology.
• The research validates the potential of TS memristors for advanced hardware security applications in IoT.
• This work offers innovative solutions for enhancing the integration and energy efficiency of security hardware in IoT devices.