Secure-IC, a global leader in end-to-end cybersecurity solutions, is now able to announce that they have created a revolutionary Physically Unclonable function (PUF) solution. Secure-IC and Trasna developed a unique PUF IP, which can generate one or more unique IDs or keys without any cryptographic enrollment phase. This PUF IP is compliant with ISO/IEC 20897. It is integrated into a Trasna All in-One ultra-efficient narrowband NB -IoT SoC. This technology is crucially important for security because it connects a wide range of devices and services. Any security breach could result in severe consequences.
Modern System on Chips has PUFs (Physically Undeletable Functions) to generate key numbers for chips. This technology provides high levels of security but it can be difficult to guarantee that there will not be identical IDs on different chips. Due to their poor performance, 90% of PUF technology cannot work independently. To improve the quality of the ID/key, they require extensive enrollment and rebuilding phases.
This is a major challenge for chip makers as:
- Without the enrollment phase of the cryptographic key construction, PUF IPs are not able to serve as reliable security sources for starting the chip.
- The enrollment phase is expensive because each chip must be individually personalized. Enrollment involves the following phases: long measurements, characterization and helper data derivation. This interactive protocol is not compatible with the efficient personalization steps that are required at the test stage for producing chips at scale.
- Hackers can subvert enrollment by using the key bits to force all parts to be the same.
Chip manufacturers are faced with significant challenges in implementing PUF technology. This is due to the extensive enrollment phase and rebuilding phase, high cost and security concerns.
Secure-IC and Trasna collaborated to create a PUFIP that doesn’t require an enrollment phase or rebuilding phase. They have created a PUF IP that can generate one or two unique IDs or keys straight from the box by leveraging Secure-IC’s PUF generation process and Trasna’s expertise.
This breakthrough allows the PUF IP to be used as the foundation for secure booting of chips, lifecycle management and seed of Root of Trust. This is a major breakthrough in the use PUF IPs as it makes the ID/Key immediately available at chip startup.
Trasna developed the All-in-One ultra-efficient NB-IoT SoC. It includes this revolutionary Secure-IC PUF solution. This will be the first fully integrated NB-IoT platform that can embed RISC-V cores to enable iSIM, GNSS, and security. It is designed to support large numbers of IoT devices and can be used for many years with a single battery. Smart cities, smart utility meters, security, logistics and Industry 4.0 are some of the target applications.
“Trasna has the main objective to develop and commercialize All-in One secure System on Chip solutions (SoC) that allow for widespread deployment of 5G/massive IoT while ensuring maximum security.” stated Yves Fusella CTO of Trasna. Secure-IC was a great partner. They truly understood our security needs and were able to align our solutions with the PUF. It was a joy to work together on this revolutionary technology “.
Sylvain Guilley (CTO of Secure-IC) said that it was an exciting opportunity to work with Trasna to make PUF easier to adopt in chips for large-scale deployment. This agreement recognizes the portability and genericity of our security products .
Both companies will present their solutions at MWC Barcelona, which will be held 27 February – 02/03/2010. Secure-IC will be present at booth 5B41-2, and Trasna will be there at the Congress Square Stand CS54.
