Abstract. The proposed true random number generator (TRNG) exploits the jitter of events propagating in a self-timed ring (STR) to generate random bit sequences at a very high bit rate. It takes advantage of a special feature of STRs that allows the time elapsed between successive events to be set as short as needed, even in the order of picoseconds. If the time interval between the events is set in concordance with the clock jitter magnitude, a simple entropy extraction scheme can be applied to generate random numbers. The proposed STR-based TRNG (STRNG) follows AIS31 recommendations: by using the proposed stochastic model, designers can compute a lower entropy bound as a function of the STR characteristics (number of stages, oscillation period and jitter magnitude). Using the resulting entropy assessment, they can then set the compression rate in the arithmetic post-processing block to reach the required security level determined by the entropy per output bit. Implementation of the generator in two FPGA families confirmed its feasibility in digital technologies and also confirmed it can provide high quality random bit sequences that pass the statistical tests required by AIS31 at rates as high as 200 Mbit/s.
Today, life is becoming increasingly connected. From TVs to smartphones, including vehicles, buildings, and household appliances, everything is interconnected in what we call the "Internet of Things" (IoT). IoT is now part of our life and we have to deal with it. More than 10 billion devices are already connected and five times more are expected to be deployed in the next five years. While deployment and integration of IoT is expanding, one of the main challenge is to provide practical solutions to security, privacy and trust issues in IoT. Protection and security mechanisms need to include features such as interoperability and scalability but also traceability, authentication and access control while remaining lightweight. Among the most promising approaches to such security mechanisms, physical unclonable functions (PUF) provide a unique identifier for similar but different integrated circuits using some of their physical characteristics. These types of functions can thus be used to authenticate integrated circuits, provide traceability and access control. This paper presents a comprehensive case study of the transient effect ring oscillator (TERO) PUF from its implementation on FPGAs to its complete characterization. The implementation of the PUF is detailed for two different families of FPGAs: Xilinx Spartan 6 and Altera Cyclone V. All the metrics used for the characterization are explained in detail and the results of the characterization include robustness to environmental parameters including variations in temperature and voltage. Finally, we compare our results with those obtained for another PUF: the ring oscillator (RO) PUF. All the design files are available online to ensure repeatability and enable comparison of our contribution with other studies.
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