US 12,294,664 B2
Physical unclonable function configuration and readout
William Michael James Holland, Edinburgh (GB); George Redfield Spalding, Jr., Edinburgh (GB); and Jonathan Ephraim David Hurwitz, Edinburgh (GB)
Assigned to Analog Devices International Unlimited Company, Limerick (IE)
Filed by Analog Devices International Unlimited Company, Limerick (IE)
Filed on Jun. 1, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/829,654.
Application 17/829,654 is a continuation of application No. 16/986,210, filed on Aug. 5, 2020, granted, now 11,394,566.
Prior Publication US 2022/0368544 A1, Nov. 17, 2022
Int. Cl. G06F 21/00 (2013.01); G06F 17/18 (2006.01); H04L 9/32 (2006.01)
CPC H04L 9/3278 (2013.01) [G06F 17/18 (2013.01); H04L 9/3255 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) apparatus for determining a PUF output that is a persistent number, the PUF apparatus comprising:
a plurality of PUF cells, each comprising a plurality of electronic devices; and
a PUF output circuit configured to:
determine a measurement of a magnitude of a physical characteristic of each of at least first and second PUF cells of the plurality of PUF cells such that at least two measurements of the magnitude are determined; and
determine the PUF output based at least in part on the at least two measurements of the magnitude of the physical characteristic, wherein determining the PUF output comprises comparing each measurement of the at least two measurements against a plurality of comparison threshold magnitudes defining a plurality of ranges.