The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Dec. 31, 2013
Filed:
Jun. 25, 2010
Joel T. Ficke, Madison, WI (US);
William E. Hall, Hawthorne, NY (US);
Terence B. Hook, Essex Junction, VT (US);
Michael A. Sperling, Poughkeepsie, NY (US);
Larry Wissel, Essex Junction, VT (US);
Joel T. Ficke, Madison, WI (US);
William E. Hall, Hawthorne, NY (US);
Terence B. Hook, Essex Junction, VT (US);
Michael A. Sperling, Poughkeepsie, NY (US);
Larry Wissel, Essex Junction, VT (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
Electronic devices and methods are disclosed to provide and to test a physically unclonable function (PUF) based on relative threshold voltages of one or more pairs of transistors. In a particular embodiment, an electronic device is operable to generate a response to a challenge. The electronic device includes a plurality of transistors, with each of the plurality of transistors having a threshold voltage substantially equal to an intended threshold voltage. The electronic device includes a challenge input configured to receive the challenge. The challenge input includes one or more bits that are used to individually select each of a pair of transistors of the plurality of transistors. The electronic device also includes a comparator to receive an output voltage from each of the pair of transistors and to generate a response indicating which of the pair of transistors has the higher output voltage. The output voltage of each of the pair of transistors varies based on the threshold voltage of each of the pair of transistors.