Enhancing IoT security with threshold switching-based unified security primitives.

Abstract

In the era of big data and the Internet of Things (IoT), the surge in data volume and widespread interconnectivity of devices make hardware a key node in a vast network ecosystem. Developing state-of-the-art secure IoT hardware is necessary and critical. In this paper, we have successfully realized a unified security hardware integrating Physically Unclonable Function (PUF) and True Random Number Generator (TRNG) functions by constructing a 32×32 1T1R array based on threshold switching (TS) memristor cells. By analyzing in detail the chemical properties of FeOx films and the electrical properties of TS memristors, we verified that the prepared TS devices have good cyclic stability and randomness. Utilizing these properties, we realized a PUF system with high uniformity, uniqueness, and reliability, and successfully deployed a TRNG based on the CTR_DRBG algorithm. In addition, by passing the NIST-900 test, we further demonstrated that the generated PUFs and TRNGs have excellent randomness, which meets the stringent requirements of IoT devices in terms of security and privacy protection. The proposed unified security hardware not only demonstrates the potential application of TS memristor in hardware security, but also provides new ideas for solving the integration and energy efficiency problems of security hardware in IoT devices. .