A Low-Power Authentication IC for Visible-Light-Based Interrogation

Edward Lee, Nael Mizanur Rahman, Venkata Chaitanya Krishna Chekuri, Arvind Singh, Saibal Mukhopadhyay

Abstract: This article presents an integrated circuits (ICs) for authentication with visible-light-based interrogation. The design uses an on-chip DC–DC boost regulator that wakes up and supplies remaining circuits via visible light upon interrogation. The data transfer is also performed via visible-light-based communication using on-chip photodiodes. An on-chip PRINCE cipher is used for encryption to provide counterfeit resistance. A prototype test-chip fabricated in 65 nm complementary metal-oxcide-semiconductor (CMOS) consumes $2.29\, \mu \text{W}$ standby power and achieves 53.8 kb/s data receive rate demonstrating ultralow-power interrogation. Measurements of electromagnetic emission-based side-channel attack show that 280000 encryptions are necessary to reveal the secret key of the tag.