The Bistable Ring PUF: A new architecture for strong Physical Unclonable Functions

Abstract

This paper introduces a new architecture for circuit-based Physical Unclonable Functions (PUFs) which we call the Bistable Ring PUF (BR-PUF). Based on experimental results obtained from FPGA-based implementations of the BR-PUF, the quality of this new design is discussed in different aspects, including uniqueness and reliability. On the basis of the observed complexity in the challenge-response behavior of BR-PUFs, we argue that this new PUF could be a promising candidate for Strong PUFs. Our design shows noticeable temperature sensitivity, but we discuss how this problem can be addressed by additional hardware and protocol measures.