Most executives we talk to about internet of things (IoT) security emphasize similar points: the need for a strong root of trust, proper authentication mechanisms, and resilience. However, there are many different ways of enabling the various aspects of this security. One company focused on physical unclonable function (PUF) based security intellectual property is Intrinsic ID.
We caught up with CEO and a founder of Intrinsic ID, Pim Tuyls, to understand more about the world of PUF security, the challenges for IoT security as technology scales, and how to deal with the potential impact of other threats including quantum computing.
Pim Tuyls co-founded the company in 2008 as a spinout from Philips Research. While working as a principal scientist managing the cryptography cluster at Philips, he initiated the original work on physical PUFs that forms the basis of the Intrinsic ID core technology. As a result of over 20 years working on semiconductors and security, Pim is widely recognized for his work in the field of SRAM PUFs and security for embedded applications.
Prophesee, the world’s leading developer of neuromorphic vision solutions, has entered into a strategic partnership and investment by leading tech venture capital firm Sinovation Ventures. Further support comes from new corporate investor Xiaomi, one of the top three mobile device suppliers in the world, and Inno-Chip, an investment firm that has obtained investment and support from Will Semiconductor, owner of OmniVision.
Most executives we talk to about internet of things (IoT) security emphasize similar points: the need for a strong root of trust, proper authentication mechanisms, and resilience. However, there are many different ways of enabling the various aspects of this security. One company focused on physical unclonable function (PUF) based security intellectual property is Intrinsic ID.
The backing for Prophesee comes from smartphone maker Xiaomi as well as Inno-Chip, an investment firm backed by Will Semiconductor, owner of camera sensor maker OmniVision and Sinovation Ventures. This is the first deal for Chinese investor Sinovation in a European startup.
Neuromorphic vision provider, Prophesee, has announced investment from tech venture capital firm Sinovation Ventures to strengthen its presence in China.
Mobile phone supplier Xiaomi is also a new corporate investor, as is Inno-Chip, an investment firm which has obtained investment and support from Will Semiconductor, owner of OmniVision.
The involvement by Sinovation and its founder Dr Kai-Fu Lee represents a significant endorsement from an expert in AI technology and venture capital, Prophesee said.
Sinovation has more than $2.5 billion assets under management, and this is the first investment by the fund in a Europe-based company as it primarily invests in the China market.
The strategic involvement of Xiaomi and Inno-Chip provides additional reach into the mobile and semiconductor segments.
Neuromorphic vision, or event-based imaging, is so called because the technology operates more in line with how biological vision works. Rather than capturing everything in a scene with each frame, event-based sensors only register changes in a scene. This means low power, latency and data processing requirements compared to traditional frame-based sensors.
Synaptics Incorporated announced that its Rio family of OLED touch controllers is being used to support LTPO-enabled OLED displays in new flagship mobile phones from Oppo and One Plus.
LTPO displays improve power efficiency by adapting their refresh rate to the content being played while also being sensitive to interference from touch controllers that do not properly support constantly shifting refresh rates. The Synaptics Rio family dynamically adapts to the LTPO panel refresh rate, enabling a smooth touch experience without interfering with the display performance.
The Synaptics Rio touch controller enables a best-in-class touch experience on LTPO display in the Oppo Find X3/X3Pro and OnePlus 9/9Pro devices.
Low temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) thin film transistor technology is increasing in popularity as it allows the OLED display to dynamically lower its refresh rate depending on the use case, which results in higher power efficiency. Rio controllers adapt to different display refresh rates from 1-120 Hz while maintaining optimum touch performance and avoiding any interference with LTPO displays.
How do people feel about refurbished electronics? I’m definitely on the fence about it unless I have confidence in the people who do it. When the original manufacturer does the work and inspection process — I feel more secure about it. Back Market, the leading global marketplace for refurbished electronics, today announced its Certified Renewed collection of electronics refurbished directly by top brands. The devices in the collection are guaranteed to have the highest level of quality at the best price.
The Certified Renewed collection currently features twelve top consumer electronics brands and growing. Devices vary by manufacturer, but include items typical to the marketplace including smartphones, laptops, audio and more. Certified Renewed electronics have been refurbished directly by the brands that originally manufactured them or one of their authorized affiliates.
That means that they come with official accessories and packaging, as well as the reassurance that these devices meet manufacturer quality standards perfectly. In addition to the quality consumers have come to associate with the brands, each purchase will come with Back Market’s standard 30-day money back guarantee and 1-year warranty.
If you’re looking to save money, refurbished electronics can be a great option.
After all, you can get a 256GB iPhone 11 for $639. That's roughly $110 off the price of a new one. And these days, you can find similar savings on popular headphones, speakers, laptops, tablets, and smartwatches.
In fact, eBay is currently offering an extra 15 percent off many refurbished items listed on its site. (Use coupon code July4Savings.)
The trick is making sure the product is genuinely refurbished, not simply cleaned up, repackaged, and repriced. And that requires asking some questions before you settle on a deal.
Not everyone defines refurbished the same way.
“Seller-refurbished is similar to the Wild West,” says Carlo Salgado, e-commerce administrator at Sims Lifecycle Services. “You have thousands of online sellers offering products they refurbish themselves. Consumers have no way to determine the quality of replaced parts.”
That said, there are ways to protect yourself. Companies that sell refurbished goods often offer warranties and money-back guarantees, for example.
Intrinsic ID announced that its flagship hardware IP product QuiddiKey has been certified by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The certification of QuiddiKey version 3.8.0 has been performed under NIST’s Cryptographic Algorithm Validation Program (CAVP) and assures that cryptographic components of the product have been tested and operate as they should under NIST’s guidelines.
“Passing the NIST CAVP certification is another important step in Intrinsic ID’s ongoing efforts towards improved standardization for security IP in general and Intrinsic ID’s products in particular,” said Pim Tuyls, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Intrinsic ID.
“Facing the problems of today’s rapidly growing device markets, such as the Internet of Things, which rely on incredibly fragmented hardware options, we believe that the only way to keep devices and networks secure is to encourage more collaborative standardization. NIST’s CAVP is one of the programs that is taking a leading role in this process, and we are happy to join this initiative, along with the many other certifications that we have already obtained for our products.”
Intrinsic ID’s QuiddiKey is a hardware IP solution that enables device manufacturers and designers to secure their products with internally generated, device-unique cryptographic keys without the need for adding costly, security-dedicated silicon. It uses the inherently random start-up values of SRAM as a PUF, which generates the entropy required for a strong hardware root of trust.
Last year, Covid-19 created a chip shortage that the world has yet to recover from. Demand for electronics surged as entire communities were forced to work and study from home. The shortage was first felt most acutely by the automobile industry, but has also created some disruption in the consumer electronics industry—forcing Apple to stagger its iPhone releases and Samsung to delay the next Galaxy release to 2022.
This has created a lot of conversation about supply chains around the world. In the United States President Joe Biden has focused his efforts on rebuilding the American chip industry—an arduous and complicated task. For now, the shortage is framed as a simple misalignment between supply and demand: The auto industry first canceled their semiconductor orders because they had anticipated a slowdown in business; chip manufacturers found other industries to sell their chips to, and when the auto industry picked up faster than expected they had to go to the back of the line. But there’s more to this story than basic economics.
You Can’t Make Something Out Of Nothing
Producing components for our electronics consumes a lot of natural resources. Let’s start with the nearly 250 different types of materials found in a typical smartphone, many of them mined at the beginning of the cycle, and recklessly disposed of at the end (not to mention the human toll caused by the injustices of the mineral extraction business). Then there’s the power and water that today’s chip mega-factories require to churn out these devices. A typical semiconductor fab requires 2 to 9 million gallons of water per day and uses enough electricity to power 50,000 homes.
That type of consumption has a profound impact on the Earth and the people that depend on it. Just ask the rice farmers in Taiwan. Taiwan is the epicenter of semiconductor manufacturing and it also happens to be in the middle of a drought, causing the country to go to great lengths to keep water flowing to its all-important semiconductor industry and shutting off irrigation to legions of rice growers. While the farmers were compensated for the disruption, they couldn’t put food in people’s hands. It’s also worth noting that the world largest contract chip maker TSMC, consumes nearly 5% of the total power produced in Taiwan, a percentage that will only grow as more factories come on line.
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