Design of Magnetic Sensor Array-Based PUFs for IoT Security

This paper proposes a physically unclonable function (PUF) design method based on a magnetic sensor array, leveraging inherent process variations in sensor manufacturing as an entropy source to generate unique cryptographic keys without requiring additional hardware support. This approach reduces system complexity while enhancing security. A balancing algorithm and reconfigurable strategy are employed to optimize PUF responses and improve stability. Furthermore, a lightweight bidirectional authentication protocol based on the magnetic sensor array PUF is introduced, with formal analysis demonstrating its effectiveness in resisting common security threats, including man-in-the-middle attacks, replay attacks, and brute-force attacks. Experimental results show that the proposed PUF exhibits excellent uniqueness, randomness, and reliability, achieving a randomness of 98% and a reliability of 97.8%. Compared to conventional silicon-based PUFs, this approach offers advantages such as low cost, low power consumption, and high environmental adaptability, providing an efficient and secure identity authentication and data protection solution for resource-constrained IoT devices.