Patent ID: 11889001
Assignee: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AS REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY OF THE AIR FORCE
Field: Digital communication (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H  G | IPC G  H

Claim 0:
1. A physically unclonable function device, comprising:
a plurality of columns each having integer (n+1) number of optical interferometers, where n for a first column has a value of 0 and where the value of n is incremented by 1 for each successive column after the first column;
each optical interferometer having a first and a second input waveguide and a first and a second output waveguide;
wherein the first output waveguide of an optical interferometer in a preceding column is connected to the second input waveguide of an optical interferometer in a subsequent column, and
wherein the second output waveguide of said optical interferometer in said preceding column is connected to the first input waveguide of said optical interferometer in said subsequent column;
a plurality of unclonable function device outputs comprising the first and the second output waveguides of each optical interferometer in a last column of said plurality of columns; and
a plurality of unclonable function device inputs comprising a combination of the first and the second input waveguides of at least one optical interferometer in each of said plurality of columns.