Today there is a growing focus on chip-level security. Protecting state-of-the-art SoC designs begins with a Hardware Root of Trust as the foundation for security operations and extends its protection of data-at-rest and data-in-transit to now also include data-in-use. Additionally, the emergence of cloud-dependent technologies has made confidential computing essential, with the need for secure execution for all applications. This process begins with the secure boot process, the protection of the device’s secure root key, and second bootloader code storage. The firmware is verified from the very moment of booting, creating a chain of trust from day one.

PUFsecurity has integrated eMemory’s secure OTP (one-time programmable memory) and quantum tunneling PUF to develop a highly reliable PUF-based Hardware Root of Trust (PUFrt) with certified anti-tampering features. Combining OTP with PUF as an additional safeguard for data-at-rest results in low provisioning overheads during device manufacturing. PUFsecurity’s PUFrt provides essential functions like secure storage, root key generation, and high-quality entropy to enable secure operations within the system. The flexible storage configuration allows for various usage scenarios, from purely key storage, to a comprehensive bootloader code. In addition, this patented PUF creates a unique inborn identity for each chip, providing a hardware-level root key, and sealing the stored data.

“Trust inspired by robust security must be a design priority as we scale the connected world, and Hardware Root of Trust is the foundation of a cloud to edge system security,” said Brian Jeff, senior director of product management, Infrastructure Line of Business, Arm. “The integration of the secure storage with pre-qualified high-performance TRNG and AMBA bus interfaces minimizes the design effort while maximizing the design’s security, which is why Arm selected PUFrt for the secure sub-system in our reference implementation of the Armv9 confidential compute architecture.”