Statistical evaluation for enhancing the robustness of optical PUF-based authentication systems.

Area of Science:

• Hardware Security
• Optical Systems
• Biometrics and Authentication

Background:

• Optical physical unclonable function (PUF) systems offer promising hardware security but suffer from low robustness due to factors like PUF misalignment.
• Existing authentication metrics struggle with reliability, limiting the practical application of optical PUF technology.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a highly robust optical PUF-based authentication scheme.
• To improve the reliability and practical applicability of PUF systems in hardware security.

Main Methods:

• Integration of multiple speckle-comparison methods for enhanced authentication.
• Quantitative assessment of speckle recognition using statistical measures like False Rejection Rate (FRR) and False Acceptance Rate (FAR).
• Analysis and comparison of conventional metrics with the KAZE method for performance evaluation.

Main Results:

• The proposed scheme achieves ultrahigh robustness, demonstrated by an exceptionally low FRR of 10^-320.
• The system maintains high security and reliability even when traditional methods fail.
• The KAZE method and integrated approach significantly outperform conventional metrics.

Conclusions:

• The developed multi-speckle comparison method offers a substantial advancement in optical PUF robustness.
• This research overcomes key limitations in PUF misalignment, paving the way for wider adoption in hardware security.
• The findings provide critical insights for designing and implementing secure and reliable optical PUF authentication systems.