Embedded Digital RFID for Chip Asset Tracking

Join the CALCE/SMTA Counterfeit Parts and Materials Symposium 2022 for this and other informative presentations

Aydin Aisu

North Carolina State University

Abstract: One solution to supply chain management for ICs would be to embed an RFID or NFC function on each chip.  This is difficult with conventional RFID approaches since they are mainly analog components with charge pumps, capacitors, etc. Thus, they are difficult to port between different semiconductor processes.  In addition, they are relatively large.  The solution demonstrated in this work is to build an RFIC function largely with digital standard cells.  Only five additional cells need to be designed and they can easily be ported to another process. This paper will present a demonstration of such a solution. The UHF Gen2 RFID design is being fabricated in a Fujitsu 55nm CMOS process. The design achieves a state-of-the-art total chip area of 0.0375 mm2 for an input sensitivity of -2.0 dBm at 900 MHz in post-layout simulations.  The presentation will include a complete overview of the Concept of Operations from wafer fab to chip disposal.

Bio: Dr. Aysu is currently an assistant professor and Bennett Faculty Fellow at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of North Carolina State University, where he leads HECTOR: Hardware Cybersecurity Research Lab.  He got his M.S from Sabanci University in Istanbul, Turkey, and his Ph.D. from Virginia Tech. Before joining NC State, he was a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Texas at Austin.  Dr. Aysu's interests are broadly on hardware security research and cybersecurity education.  He has won the 2019 NC State Faculty Development Award, 2019 NSF Research Initiative (CRII) award, the 2020 Bennett Faculty award, and the 2020 NSF CAREER award.  His papers have been nominated for the best paper award at 2018, 2019, and 2022 IEEE HOST conferences and have won the best paper award at 2019 GLS-VLSI and 2020 DATE conferences.  He is an IEEE senior member.