Digital and engineering

Synclock

CyberElectronicsIoT

Anti-counterfeiting locker for RF transceivers

Download the technology sheet

Ref. No.: MA00645

Summary

Othman Guenoun

Business Developper

Ce contenu est disponible en français

Technology

  • SyncLock acts on the synchronization of the transmitter with the receiver. If a key other than the secret one is applied the synchronization and the communication fails. A hard-coded error is hidden into the design while the unlocking, i.e., the error correction, takes place at another part of the design upon application of the secret key.
  • Advantages: it is generally applicable, incorrect keys result in denial-of-service, it incurs no performance penalty and minimum overheads, and it offers maximum security against all known counter-attacks.
  • Uses 1% of the chip’s physical layer surface. Simple plug-in to the DSP (1% overhead).

Market

  • Applicable to any RF architecture, communication protocol, modulation scheme.
  • Clients : fabless RF chip designers, integrators
  • Existing locking techniques for AMS ICs :-Biasing Locking : imprecise and unstable, vulnerable to some attacks ;
    • MixLock : induces an 8 to 12% surface and power overload;
    • Calibration Locking : not always robust or complex enough.

Development

  • PoC based on Nuand’s SDR bladeRF board
  • Demonstration with a commercial wifi network

IP

  • Patent family filed in 2022/03 under n°PCT/FR2022/050437 – Pending in EP and US

Valorisation strategy

  • Licensing
  • Startup