A Unified Memory and Hardware Security Module Based on the Adjustable Switching Window of Resistive Memory

Abstract

Physically unclonable function (PUF) and true random number generator (TRNG) are critical primitives to provide lightweight hardware protection. As area is tightly restricted in IoT applications, merging PUF and TRNG is a novel trend to achieve higher area efficiency. In this work, a novel tri-functional module is proposed and experimental demonstrated using RRAM for the first time. A two-phase forming process is designed to generate and store PUF ID utilizing the impact of different forming conditions on the switching window. As PUF ID is stored by the switching window, instead of a fixed resistance, PUF cells can be written to low resistance state and high resistance state as usual, and can be used as memory and TRNG. The inter-Hamming distance of the generated PUF IDs approaches 0.5, and with the majority voting readout strategy, low BER can be achieved in a wide range of temperatures from-40 o C to 125 o C. TRNG produces the true random numbers based on the parity of the number of pulses consumed in a write-zero process. The generated random numbers are uniform and uncorrelated after XORed, and the statistical randomness is verified by NIST SP800-22 tests.

Application of Resistive Random Access Memory in Hardware Security: A Review

“…[194] Recently privacy-preserving mutual authentication scheme shown in Figure 16 is also gaining attention. [157,196,197] This implementation requires both TRNG and PUF and hence, often explored as a unified design. Here, the server generates a random string R1 through its TRNG and encrypts it with the secret PUF secret ID and transmits it to the device.…”

Serial RRAM Cell for Secure Bit Concealing

“…Moreover, the inherent variability of RRAMs, due to the stochastic nature of their switching mechanism [13], has positioned these devices as one of the most competitive candidates for the development of security primitives [14]. In fact, RRAMs have attracted the attention of the research community for the implementation of PUFs [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23] and true random number generators (TRNGs) [24][25][26][27][28][29]. Nevertheless, RRAM-based circuits may also introduce security vulnerabilities of their own.…”

Bi2O2Se-Based True Random Number Generator for Security Applications

“…Thus, implementing hardware-based primitives into software-based encryption algorithms could be more reliable for next-generation security applications. Among various hardware candidates, emerging memristive devices with the inherent variability of their electrical parameters could be an option for a true random number generator (TRNG). − The memristive devices are being studied for a wide range of applications, including storage, in-memory logic computing, and neuromorphic computing . Toward practical applications, the intrinsic stochastic cycle-to-cycle (C2C) variability, such as the random telegraph noise (RTN) and nonuniform switching voltages, could be one of the primary concerns .…”