Design Impedance Mismatch Physical Unclonable Functions for IoT Security

Abstract

We propose a new design, Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) scheme, for the Internet of Things (IoT), which has been suffering from multiple-level security threats. As more and more objects interconnect on IoT networks, the identity of each thing is very important. To authenticate each object, we design an impedance mismatch PUF, which exploits random physical factors of the transmission line to generate a security unique private key. The characteristic impedance of the transmission line and signal transmission theory of the printed circuit board (PCB) are also analyzed in detail. To improve the reliability, current feedback amplifier (CFA) method is applied on the PUF. Finally, the proposed scheme is implemented and tested. The measure results show that impedance mismatch PUF provides better unpredictability and randomness.