Identification of recovered ICs using fingerprints from a light-weight on-chip sensor

The counterfeiting and recycling of integrated circuits (ICs) have become major problems in recent years, potentially impacting the security of electronic systems bound for military, financial, or other critical applications. With identical functionality and packaging, it is extremely difficult to distinguish recovered ICs from unused ICs. A technique is proposed to distinguish used ICs from the unused ones using a fingerprint generated by a light-weight on-chip sensor. Using statistical data analysis, process and temperature variations´ effects on the sensors can be separated from aging experienced by the sensors in the ICs when used in the field. Simulation results, featuring the sensor using 90nm technology, and silicon results from 90nm test chips demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique for identification of recovered ICs.