Patent ID: 11949799
Assignee: TAIWAN SEMICONDUCTOR MANUFACTURING COMPANY LTD.
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  H | IPC G  H

Claim 9:
10. A method for generating a physical unclonable function (PUF) signature comprising:
writing a first voltage in each of a plurality of bit cells in at least one column of a PUF cell array through an input/output (I/O) circuit;
stabilizing the first voltage level to a second voltage level in each of the plurality of bit cells;
enabling a sense amplifier (SA) of the I/O circuit to read the second voltage levels from the at least at least one column, wherein the SA is coupled between two first bit lines from two neighboring columns of the PUF cell array; and
determining a PUF signature,
wherein the I/O circuit comprises no cross-coupled pair of transistors, and wherein the SA comprises two first cross-coupled inverters.