Comparative Analysis of SRAM PUF Temperature Susceptibility on Embedded Systems

2026-03-16

AI Summary

This study systematically evaluates the reliability differences of embedded SRAM-based physically unclonable functions (PUFs) in two structurally similar microcontrollers across a temperature range of 10°C to 50°C. By executing identical SRAM PUF enrollment procedures and analyzing the randomness and stability of power-up states, the work presents the first quantitative comparison of SRAM PUF temperature sensitivity between otherwise comparable chips. Experimental results reveal that one SRAM implementation exhibits significantly superior PUF performance over the wide temperature range compared to the other, thereby demonstrating that underlying SRAM design critically influences PUF characteristics. These findings provide empirical evidence to guide early-stage chip selection for security-sensitive applications requiring robust PUF behavior under varying thermal conditions.

Technology Category

• Machine Learning: Hardware-aware ML
• Application Domains: Internet of Things, Sensor Networks & Smart Cities
• Constraint Satisfaction and Optimization: Satisfiability Modulo Theories

Application Category

• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Web evaluation methodologies and metrics
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Web performance, measurement, and characterization

Abstract

An SRAM Physical Unclonable Function (PUF) can distinguish SRAM modules by analyzing the inherent randomness of their start-up behavior. However, the effectiveness of this technique varies depending on the design and fabrication of the SRAM module. This study compares two similar microcontrollers, both equipped with on-chip SRAM, to determine which device produces a better SRAM PUF. Both microcontrollers are programmed with an identical SRAM PUF authentication routine and tested under varying ambient temperatures (ranging from 10 °C to 50 °C) to evaluate the impact of temperature on SRAM PUF performance. One embedded SRAM works significantly better than the other, even though the two models are closely related. The presented results can be used early in the design process to compare arbitrary on-chip SRAM models and see which is best suited for implementing an SRAM PUF.

Problem

• SRAM PUF
• temperature susceptibility
• embedded systems
• physical unclonable function
• comparative analysis

Innovation

• SRAM PUF
• temperature susceptibility
• embedded systems
• comparative analysis
• hardware security