Authentication of integrated circuits

• US 20030204743A1
• Filed: 04/04/2003
• Published: 10/30/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intrinsic ID BV, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Original Assignee: Intrinsic ID BV
• Inventors: Clarke, Dwaine, Devadas, Srinivas, Gassend, Blaise, Dijk, Marten Van
• Granted Patent: US 7,840,803 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/200
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/72 in cryptographic circuits
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/73 by creating or determining hardware identification, e.g. serial numbers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/77 in smart cards
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/79 in semiconductor storage media, e.g. directly-addressable memories
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/86 Secure or tamper-resistant housings
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2103 Challenge-response
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2121 Chip on media, e.g. a disk or tape with a chip embedded in its case
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2129 Authenticate client device independently of the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2153 Using hardware token as a secondary aspect
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3674 involving authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G09C 1/00 Apparatus or methods whereby a given sequence of signs, e.g. an intelligible text, is transformed into an unintelligible sequence of signs by transposing the signs or groups of signs or by replacing them by others according to a predetermined system cryptographic typewriters G09C3/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2223/54433 containing identification or tracking information
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2223/5444 for electrical read out
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2223/54473 for use after dicing
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/544 Marks applied to semiconductor devices or parts, e.g. registration marks, alignment structures, wafer maps test patterns for characterising or monitoring manufacturing processes H01L22/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 23/576 using active circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/00 Indexing scheme for arrangements or methods for connecting or disconnecting semiconductor or solid-state bodies as covered by H01L24/00
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/0002 Not covered by any one of groups H01L24/00, H01L24/00 and H01L2224/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/34 Encoding or coding, e.g. Huffman coding or error correction
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2209/42 : Anonymization, e.g. involving pseudonyms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0897 : involving additional devices, e.g. trusted platform module [TPM], smartcard or USB
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3278 : using physically unclonable functions [PUF]

Abstract

A group of devices are fabricated based on a common design, each device having a corresponding plurality of measurable characteristics that is unique in the group to that device, each device having a measurement module for measuring the measurable characteristics. Authentication of one of the group of devices is enabled by selective measurement of one or more of the plurality of measurable characteristics of the device.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing a first device from a group of devices fabricated based on a common design, each device having a corresponding plurality of measurable characteristics that is unique in the group to that device, each device having a measurement module for measuring the measurable characteristics; and

enabling authentication of the first device by selective measurement of one or more of the plurality of measurable characteristics of the device.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein enabling authentication includes enrolling the first device, including

transmitting selection information to the first device,

receiving from the first device response information generated by selective measurement of one of the plurality of characteristics based on the selection information, and

storing the received response information in association with the first device and the selection information.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein enabling authentication further comprises authenticating the first device, including

repeating the steps of transmitting the selection information to the first device, and receiving response information generated by the selective measurement of the one of the characteristics, and

comparing the received response information with the stored response information.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein each of enrolling the first device and authenticating the first device includes selectively measuring the one of the plurality of characteristics based on the selection information and generating the measurement information.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising enrolling each of the group of devices, including for each of the devices:

transmitting selection information to the device that identifies a subset of the measurable characteristics;

receiving from the device response information generated by selective measurement of each of the subset of measurable characteristics identified in the selection information; and

storing the received response information in association with the first device and the selection information.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising determining a different subset of the measurable characteristics for each of the devices.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein determining the different subset for each device includes randomly choosing the members of each of the subsets.

8. The method of claim 5 further comprising authenticating the first device, including:

transmitting selection information to the first device that identifies one of the subset of measurable characteristics for the first device;

receiving from the first device response information generated by selective measurement of the identified one of the subset of measurable characteristics; and

comparing the received response information with the stored response information received during enrollment of the first device.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising fabricating the devices in the group of devices according to a common design.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein fabricating the devices comprises fabricating the group of devices according to a common set of lithography masks.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the corresponding plurality of measurable characteristics of the devices include characteristics determined during fabrication of the devices.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the characteristics determined during fabrication of the devices include uncontrolled characteristics of a fabrication process.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein providing the first device from the group of devices includes providing a first integrated circuit.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the corresponding plurality of measurable characteristics include delay characteristics of a plurality of signal paths in the integrated circuit.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the plurality of signal paths include multiple paths through each of a set of circuit components.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein the circuit components include passive transmission lines.

17. The method of claim 15 wherein the circuit components include active semiconductor elements.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the active semiconductor elements include logic gates.

19. The method of claim 1 in which the corresponding plurality of measurable characteristics comprise optical characteristics.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the optical characteristics include reflection characteristics.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the reflection characteristics include speckle patterns.

22. The method of claim 1 in which the number of measurable characteristics of each device is greater than 2.

23. The method of claim 1 in which the number of measurable characteristics of each device is greater than 4.

24. The method of claim 1 in which the number of measurable characteristics of each device is greater than 16.

25. The method of claim 1 in which the number of measurable characteristics of each device is greater than 256.

26. The method of claim 1 in which the number of measurable characteristics of each device is greater 2¹⁶.

27. The method of claim 1 in which the number of measurable characteristics of each device is greater than 2³².

28. The method of claim 1 in which the number of measurable characteristics of each device is greater than 2⁶⁴.

29. The method of claim 1 in which the number of measurable characteristics of each device is greater than 2¹²⁸.

30. The method of claim 1 in which each device comprises a functional component and a measurable component that have the plurality of measurable characteristics.

31. The method of claim 30, further comprising packaging the device in a package.

32. The method of claim 31 in which the functional component and the measurable component are disposed in the package in a way such that the functional component cannot be physically accessed without altering the plurality of measurable characteristics.

33. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a selection signal at the first device encoding selection information that includes an identifier; and

selecting one of the plurality of measurable characteristics using the identifier.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein selecting the one of the measurable characteristics includes applying a one-way function using the identifier as an argument.

35. The method of claim 34 wherein applying the one-way function further uses a second identifier as an argument.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein the second identifier includes an identification of the device.

37. The method of claim 36 wherein the identification of the device includes a serial number stored in the device.

38. The method of claim 35 wherein the second identifier includes an identification of a personality.

39. The method of claim 33 further comprising measuring the selected characteristic.

40. The method of claim 39 wherein the selected characteristic includes a delay characteristic of a selected signal path.

41. The method of claim 40 wherein measuring the delay characteristic includes generating an oscillating signal using the selected delay path.

42. The method of claim 41 wherein measuring the delay characteristic further includes determining a quantity related to an oscillation frequency of the oscillating signal.

43. The method of claim 42 wherein determining the quantity related to the oscillation frequency includes counting a number of oscillations during a timed interval.

44. The method of claim 42 wherein determining the quantity related to the oscillation frequency includes applying a phase-locked loop to the oscillating signal.

45. The method of claim 39 wherein measuring the selected characteristic includes compensating for variations in the measurement of the selected characteristic due to changes in an environment of the device.

46. The method of claim 39 further comprising measuring a reference characteristic, and computing a ratio of a measurement of the selected characteristic to a measurement of the reference characteristic.

47. The method of claim 39 further comprising correcting errors in a measurement of the selected characteristic.

48. The method of claim 39 further comprising:

determining response information using the measured characteristic; and

transmitting a response signal from the first device encoding the response information.

49. The method of claim 48 wherein determining the response information includes applying a one-way function using the measured characteristic as an argument.

50. The method of claim 49 further comprising providing a result signal encoding a result generated by the device, and wherein applying the one-way function further uses an argument determined from the result.

51. The method of claim 49 further comprising accepting code for executing an operation on a processor in the device, and wherein applying the one-way function further uses an argument determined from the code.

52. The method of claim 49 further comprising accepting a command for execution in the device, and wherein applying the one-way function further uses an argument determined from the command.

53. The method of claim 52 wherein providing the response signal includes providing an acknowledgement that the command was executed in the device.

54. The method of claim 49, further comprising:

accepting a second selection signal at the first device encoding a second identifier;

measuring a second of the characteristics selected according to the second identifier; and

providing a result signal encoding the measurement of the second of the characteristics.

55. The method of claim 54 wherein applying the one-way function further uses an argument determined from the measurement of the second of the characteristics.

56. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving a selection signal at the first device encoding selection information that includes an identifier;

selecting a first one of the plurality of measurable characteristics using the identifier; and

selecting a second one of the plurality of measurable characteristics also using the identifier.

57. The method of claim 56, further comprising:

measuring the first selected characteristic to generate a first measurement;

measuring the second selected characteristic to generate a second measurement; and

comparing the first measurement to the second measurement.

58. The method of claim 57, further comprising generate a one-bit response according to the comparison of the first and second measurements.

59. The method of claim 58, further comprising:

generating an n-bit response by repeating n−

1 times the steps of receiving a selection signal encoding selection information that includes an identifier, selecting a first one and a second one of the plurality of measurable characteristics using the identifier, measuring the first one and second one of the measurable characteristics to generate a first measurement and a second measurement, and comparing the first and second measurements to generate one bit of the n-bit response.

60. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

in a first operating mode,

accepting a first selection signal at the first device encoding a first identifier, applying a first one-way function using the first identifier as an argument, selecting one of the plurality of characteristic using the result of the first one-way function,

measuring the selected characteristic, and

providing a first response signal that encodes an identifier of the selected characteristic and the measured characteristic; and

in a second operating mode,

accepting a second selection signal at the first device encoding a second identifier,

selecting one of the plurality of characteristic using the second identifier, measuring the selected characteristic,

applying a second one-way function using the measured characteristic as an argument, and

providing a second response signal that encodes the result of applying the second one-way function.

61. The method of claim 60 wherein the second identifier is the same as the result of applying the first one-way function using the first identifier as an argument.

62. A method comprising:

providing a first device from a group of devices fabricated based on a common design, each device having a corresponding plurality of measurable characteristics that is unique in the group to that device, the measurable characteristics having discrete values; and

enabling authentication of the first device by selective measurement of one or more of the plurality of measurable characteristics of the device.

63. The method of claim 62 wherein the corresponding plurality of measurable characteristics include delay characteristics of a plurality of signal paths in the first device.

64. The method of claim 62 wherein the corresponding plurality of measurable characteristics include optical characteristics.

65. A method, comprising:

providing a first device from a group of devices fabricated based on a common design, each device having a corresponding plurality of measurable characteristics that is unique in the group to that device, each device having a processor;

selectively measuring one or more of the plurality of measurable characteristics of the first device;

accepting code for executing an operation on a processor of the first device; and

applying a one-way function using a first argument determined from the code.

66. The method of claim 65 wherein applying the one-way function further comprises using a second argument determined from a measured characteristic.

67. The method of claim 66 wherein the code comprises a public encryption key.

68. The method of claim 67, further comprising determining the second argument by using the public encryption key to encrypt a value derived from the measured characteristic.

69. The method of claim 65 wherein the code comprises selection information that identifies a subset of the measurable characteristics.

70. The method of claim 69 wherein selectively measuring one or more of the plurality of measurable characteristics comprises selectively measuring each of the subset of measurable characteristics identified by the selection information.

71. The method of claim 69 wherein applying the one-way function further comprises using a second argument determined from the selection information.

72. The method of claim 65 wherein the corresponding plurality of measurable characteristics include delay characteristics of a plurality of signal paths in the first device.

73. A method comprising:

providing a first device from a group of devices fabricated based on a common design, each device having a corresponding plurality of electrically measurable characteristics that is unique in the group to that device; and

enabling authentication of the first device by selective measurement of one or more of the plurality of measurable characteristics of the device.

74. The method of claim 73 wherein the corresponding plurality of measurable characteristics include delay characteristics of a plurality of signal paths in the first device.

75. An apparatus comprising:

a device selected from a group of devices fabricated based on a common design, each device in the group having a corresponding plurality of measurable characteristics that is unique in the group to that device, the device including a measuring component that measures a selected characteristic.

76. The apparatus of claim 75 wherein the device comprises an integrated circuit.

77. The apparatus of claim 75 wherein the integrated circuit comprises signal paths, and the plurality of measurable characteristics comprise the delay characteristics of the signal paths.

78. The apparatus of claim 77 wherein the integrated circuit comprise a set of circuit components, and the signal paths include paths through each of a set of the circuit components.

79. The apparatus of claim 75 wherein the device further includes a processor.

80. The apparatus of claim 79 wherein the processor implements a one-way function.

81. The apparatus of claim 75 wherein the device comprises an array of light emitting components, an array of light detection components, and a light transmission medium that creates a speckle pattern that can be detected by the array of light detection components when one or more of the light emitting components are emitting light.

82. The apparatus of claim 75, further comprising:

a storage device to store identifiers and responses associated with the device, each identifier identifying one or more measurable characteristics, each response corresponding to one or more identifiers and is derived from one or more measurements of the measurable characteristics identified by the one or more identifiers.