What does this protection offer? It means that the invention is automatically protected in the 17 EU member states that currently form the unitary patent system. This makes it easier to bring the solution to market, as it is protected simultaneously in multiple countries. It also saves time and money – there is one patent procedure instead of several, one for each individual country.

Both key advantages are highly effective for this invention and align perfectly with its objectives.

Its creators – Krzysztof Gołofit, PhD, and Piotr Z. Wieczorek, PhD, associate professor at the Faculty of Electronics and Information Technology – compare their project to a fingerprint, except it is digital and assigned to a device.

“The essence of the invention is to create keys so deeply embedded in the electronics that they cannot be extracted by anyone other than the system itself,” explains Krzysztof Gołofit, PhD. “The keys are not stored in any memory; they are only retrieved for the moment they are used and then disappear from the system.”

“By having the entire key space, combined with a good random number generator, one can build a secure two-factor authentication system without the need to implement complex cryptographic algorithms,” adds associate professor Piotr Z. Wieczorek, PhD.

Our researchers are the first in the world to apply the so-called butterfly effect (chaos theory) in PUF solutions. The butterfly effect describes a situation where changes are too complex to predict. PUFs, or physically unclonable functions, are unique, uncopiable physical characteristics of electronic devices that can serve as a strong mechanism for verifying their authenticity.

The foundation of the invention, developed at WUT, lies in microscopic differences in the atomic structure of electronic systems. Enhancing these differences allows for the generation of keys in a manner that is both random and reproducible only for a specific system. The number of possible variations is so vast that complex and costly password protection mechanisms are unnecessary. This allows for the creation of highly secure, yet inexpensive and easy-to-implement cryptographic keys, which, in turn, protect your devices and, consequently, your data.

The generator is well-suited for both professional cryptographic solutions (such as encryption, authentication, and digital signature) and commonly used devices (e.g., those forming the Internet of Things). It can be effectively utilized in various parts of devices: from the smallest components like chips (e.g., in payment cards), to more advanced programmable systems (adapted for various tasks, such as in industrial equipment), and discrete elements (composed of basic components that together form larger electronic systems).