Introduction

Every system connected to a network in which the exchange of data is “unencrypted”, ie without an adequate protection system, sooner or later will be victim of attacks by malicious people. The invention consists in a new approach for the generation of true random numbers generation (TRNG) capable of realizing a physically un-clonable function (PUF).

Technical features

The generation of random numbers is performed by a circuit comprising two serial / parallel configuration memristor, where a random bit is generated by the application of a standard pulse to the headers of the memristor, and the bit value results from the comparison of the resistances of the two memristor during reading. The 2-memristor configuration intrinsically guarantees the uniformity of the bit values, ie the equal probability (50%) that they are 0 or 1. The uniqueness of the signature is guaranteed by the intrinsic stochastic variability of the functioning of the memristor. This approach overcomes the limitations of the schemes to a memristor that instead require a pre-calibration of the voltage to be applied to guarantee an equal probability of generating 0 or 1, resulting in a higher circuit complexity and a higher cost.

Possible Applications

• Cryptography;
• Applications with hardware signature for the purpose of the security of the transmitted information;
• IoT.

Advantages

• Guarantees the uniformity (50% probability) of the bits generated independently of the applied voltage;
• Less circuit complexity;
• Reduced costs.