Cryptology ePrint Archive: Report 2009/278
Towards Electrical, Integrated Implementations of SIMPL Systems
Ulrich Rührmair Qingqing Chen Paolo Lugli Ulf Schlichtmann Martin Stutzmann György Csaba
Abstract: This paper discusses the practical implementation of a novel security tool termed SIMPL system,
which was introduced in [1]. SIMPL systems can be regarded as a public key version of physical
unclonable functions (PUFs). Like the latter, a SIMPL system S is physically unique and nonreproducible,
and implements an individual function FS. In opposition to a PUF, however, a SIMPL
system S possesses a publicly known numerical description, which allows its digital simulation and
prediction. At the same time, any such simulation must work at a detectably lower speed than the
real-time behavior of S. As argued in [1], SIMPL systems have certain practicality and security
advantages in comparison to PUFs, certificates of authenticity, physically obfuscated keys, and also
to standard mathematical cryptotechniques.
In [1], definitions, protocols, and optical implementations of SIMPL systems were presented.
This manuscript focuses on concrete electrical, integrated realizations of SIMPL systems, and
proposes two potential candidates: SIMPL systems derived from special SRAM-architectures (socalled
“skew designs” of SRAM cells), and implementations based on Cellular Non-Linear Networks
(CNNs).
Category / Keywords: cryptographic protocols / Physical Unclonable Functions, Public Key Cryptography
Date: received 10 Jun 2009
Contact author: ruehrmai
Available format(s): PDF | BibTeX Citation
Version: 20090611:124315 (All versions of this report)
Short URL: ia.cr/2009/278
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