Clonable PUF: on the Design of PUFs That Share Equivalent Responses

Abstract

While numerous physically unclonable functions (PUFs) were proposed in recent years, the conventional PUF- based authentication model is centralized by the data of challenge-response pairs (CRPs), particularly when n-party authentication is required. In this work, we propose a novel concept of clonable PUF (CPUF), wherein two or more PUFs having equivalent responses are manufactured to facilitate decentralized authentication. By design, cloning is only possible in the fabrication period and the responses are determined based on the variability induced during the fabrication. We establish the usage model and the circuit design of CPUFs. Numerical experiments using a circuit simulator show an ideal matching rate of responses between the CPUFs.