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Tribler / software-based-PUF

The first open source software-based Physically Unclonable Function (PUF) using off-the-shelf SRAM
GNU General Public License v3.0
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Not an issue ! #11

Open jafeelv opened 1 year ago

jafeelv commented 1 year ago

Hi, this is not an issue. I am curious about the advantages of off-chip SRAM PUF over on-chip SRAM PUF. I couldn't find any notable advantages when I referred to research papers. Or are there any specific use cases where on-chip SRAM PUF can't apply?

jafeelv commented 1 year ago

@myndcryme

myndcryme commented 1 year ago

If I understand your question correctly then you are asking about the advantages of using this stand alone PUF project vs. something like a microcontroller with integrated PUF such as Maxim MAX32520.

The advantages of this project PUF are:

  1. It is an open source implementation, unencumbered by IP such as patents.
  2. It not only uses open source software but is also built (mostly) with open source hardware which translates to the ultimate in freedom, trust, and flexibility. It can be verified by a user, thus, offering protection against intentional/unintentional backdoors unlike blackbox implementations. This is a necessity for anyone developing OSHW.
jafeelv commented 1 year ago

@myndcryme Apart from these, are there any advantages related to performance and all ?

jafeelv commented 1 year ago

@myndcryme I apologize if my question appears to be meaningless or unclear. If that is the case, please accept my apologies. I was asking about the difference between the off-chip SRAM PUF (like used in this project. by using additional SRAM IC) and on-chip SRAM PUF (using the existing SRAM in boards like Arduino).

Can we use the on-chip SRAM for implementing this open source software based puf? any notable advantage for selecting the off-chip SRAM over the other?

myndcryme commented 1 year ago

@myndcryme Apart from these, are there any advantages related to performance and all ?

I don't have hands on experience with other puf products/implementations so I can't really answer that.

myndcryme commented 1 year ago

Can we use the on-chip SRAM for implementing this open source software based puf? any notable advantage for selecting the off-chip SRAM over the other?

Not sure but I think unlikely unless you have a different method than used here. Having to toggle the SRAM power pretty much prevents using the on board ram. You might be interested in reading some related work djb did years ago (cpu pufs) - https://cr.yp.to/hardware/cpupuf-20150729.pdf

jafeelv commented 1 year ago

@myndcryme Thank You