Solitonic Josephson-based meminductive systems

Memristors, memcapacitors, and meminductors represent an innovative generation of circuit elements whose properties depend on the state and history of the system. The hysteretic behavior of one of their constituent variables, is their distinctive fingerprint. This feature endows them with the ability to store and process information on the same physical location, a property that is expected to benefit many applications ranging from unconventional computing to adaptive electronics to robotics. Therefore, it is important to find appropriate memory elements that combine a wide range of memory states, long memory retention times, and protection against unavoidable noise. Although several physical systems belong to the general class of memelements, few of them combine these important physical features in a single component. Here, we demonstrate theoretically a superconducting memory based on solitonic long Josephson junctions. Moreover, since solitons are at the core of its operation, this system provides an intrinsic topological protection against external perturbations. We show that the Josephson critical current behaves hysteretically as an external magnetic field is properly swept. Accordingly, long Josephson junctions can be used as multi-state memories, with a controllable number of available states, and in other emerging areas such as memcomputing, i.e., computing directly in/by the memory

Memristor Platforms for Pattern Recognition Memristor Theory, Systems and Applications

In the last decade a large scientific community has focused on the study of the memristor. The memristor is thought to be by many the best alternative to CMOS technology, which is gradually showing its flaws. Transistor technology has developed fast both under a research and an industrial point of view, reducing the size of its elements to the nano-scale. It has been possible to generate more and more complex machinery and to communicate with that same machinery thanks to the development of programming languages based on combinations of boolean operands. Alas as shown by Moore’s law, the steep curve of implementation and of development of CMOS is gradually reaching a plateau. It is clear the need of studying new elements that can combine the efficiency of transistors and at the same time increase the complexity of the operations. Memristors can be described as non-linear resistors capable of maintaining memory of the resistance state that they reached. From their first theoretical treatment by Professor Leon O. Chua in 1971, different research groups have devoted their expertise in studying the both the fabrication and the implementation of this new promising technology. In the following thesis a complete study on memristors and memristive elements is presented. The road map that characterizes this study departs from a deep understanding of the physics that govern memristors, focusing on the HP model by Dr. Stanley Williams. Other devices such as phase change memories (PCMs) and memristive biosensors made with Si nano-wires have been studied, developing emulators and equivalent circuitry, in order to describe their complex dynamics. This part sets the first milestone of a pathway that passes trough more complex implementations such as neuromorphic systems and neural networks based on memristors proving their computing efficiency. Finally it will be presented a memristror-based technology, covered by patent, demonstrating its efficacy for clinical applications. The presented system has been designed for detecting and assessing automatically chronic wounds, a syndrome that affects roughly 2% of the world population, through a Cellular Automaton which analyzes and processes digital images of ulcers. Thanks to its precision in measuring the lesions the proposed solution promises not only to increase healing rates, but also to prevent the worsening of the wounds that usually lead to amputation and death

Memcapacitors

Mestrado em Engenharia Eletrónica e TelecomunicaçõesThe present work aims to continue the study of memory devices, initiated with the prediction of the existence of memristors by Leon Chua in 1971, with the study and characterization of memcapacitors as a semiconductor two-terminal device, characterized by the non-linear relation between charge and voltage, which also present the ability to remember the voltage or charge that passes through the device, graphically represented by a graphic with hysteresis characteristics, also presenting a variable capacitance in function of the charge applied in its terminals. Here, a characterizationof the response functions to a sinusoidal periodic input with variable frequency to three mathematical models of memcapacitive systems is performed: given a memcapacitor in series with an ac input voltage source, the respective hysteresis charge-voltage plots are studied by simulations in the MATLAB environment. Next, a classification of the hysteresis plots in function of its geometry is performed, given that the crossing of such graph in the (0.0) point defines it as a type I or type II hysteresis loop. The analysis continues with the morphological identification of the area of the hysteresis curve of the first model, by varying amplitude and frequency of the input source, in such a way to compare the other models with the ideal one, as well as to take the critical frequencis from which the memcapacitance becomes constant, and thus the system becomes linear, by making the hysteresis curve to become a straight line. The area of the first model was taken by calculations with the Green theorem.O presente trabalho propõe-se a continuar o estudo dos dispositivos de memória, iniciado com a predição dos memristors por Leon Chua em 1971, por meio do estudo e caracterização dos memcapacitores como dispositivos semicondutores de dois terminais, caracterizados pela relação não linear entre carga e tensão, que apresentam capacidade de recordar a tensão ou corrente que passa pelo dispositivo, graficamente representado em forma de um gráfico com características de histerese, aprensentando também capacitância variável em função da carga aplicada em seus terminais. Aqui, uma caracterização das funções de resposta a uma entrada periódica sinusoidal com frequência variável, para três modelos matemáticos de sistemas memcapacitivos, é realizada: dado um memcapacitor em série com uma tensão de entrada ac, estuda-se as respectivas funções de histerese carga-tensão por meio de simulação em MATLAB. Em seguida, é realizada uma classificação das curvas de histerese em função da sua geometria, em que a passagem do gráfico no ponto (0,0), de origem dos planos, o define como tipo I ou tipo II. A análise prossegue com a identificação morfológica da área das curvas de histerese obtidas dos primeiro modelo teóricos em causa, variando-se, para isso, amplitude e frequência de entradas, de modo a se comparar os outros dois modelos restantes com este modelo ideal, ao mesmo tempo em que se deseja obter as frequências críticas de cada modelo, ou seja, as frequências e amplitudes a partir das quais a memcapacitância torna-se constante, e o sistema em causa, linear, fazendo então a curva de histerese degenerar para uma reta. A área do primeiro modelo foi calculada através de um algoritmo que calcula a área da curva por meio do Teorema de Green

Memristors

This Edited Volume Memristors - Circuits and Applications of Memristor Devices is a collection of reviewed and relevant research chapters, offering a comprehensive overview of recent developments in the field of Engineering. The book comprises single chapters authored by various researchers and edited by an expert active in the physical sciences, engineering, and technology research areas. All chapters are complete in itself but united under a common research study topic. This publication aims at providing a thorough overview of the latest research efforts by international authors on physical sciences, engineering, and technology,and open new possible research paths for further novel developments

Energy Harvesting and Sensor Based Hardware Security Primitives for Cyber-Physical Systems

The last few decades have seen a large proliferation in the prevalence of cyber-physical systems. Although cyber-physical systems can offer numerous advantages to society, their large scale adoption does not come without risks. Internet of Things (IoT) devices can be considered a significant component within cyber-physical systems. They can provide network communication in addition to controlling the various sensors and actuators that exist within the larger cyber-physical system. The adoption of IoT features can also provide attackers with new potential avenues to access and exploit a system\u27s vulnerabilities. Previously, existing systems could more or less be considered a closed system with few potential points of access for attackers. Security was thus not typically a core consideration when these systems were originally designed. The cumulative effect is that these systems are now vulnerable to new security risks without having native security countermeasures that can easily address these vulnerabilities. Even just adding standard security features to these systems is itself not a simple task. The devices that make up these systems tend to have strict resource constraints in the form of power consumption and processing power. In this dissertation, we explore how security devices known as Physically Unclonable Functions (PUFs) could be used to address these concerns. PUFs are a class of circuits that are unique and unclonable due to inherent variations caused by the device manufacturing process. We can take advantage of these PUF properties by using the outputs of PUFs to generate secret keys or pseudonyms that are similarly unique and unclonable. Existing PUF designs are commonly based around transistor level variations in a special purpose integrated circuit (IC). Integrating these designs within a system would still require additional hardware along with system modification to interact with the device. We address these concerns by proposing a novel PUF design methodology for the creation of PUFs whose integration within these systems would minimize the cost of redesigning the system by reducing the need to add additional hardware. This goal is achieved by creating PUF designs from components that may already exist within these systems. A PUF designed from existing components creates the possibility of adding a PUF (and thus security features) to the system without actually adding any additional hardware. This could allow PUFs to become a more attractive security option for integration with resource constrained devices. Our proposed approach specifically targets sensors and energy harvesting devices since they can provide core functions within cyber-physical systems such as power generation and sensing capabilities. These components are known to exhibit variations due to the manufacturing process and could thus be utilized to design a PUF. Our first contribution is the proposal of a novel PUF design methodology based on using components which are already commonly found within cyber-physical systems. The proposed methodology uses eight sensors or energy harvesting devices along with a microcontroller. It is unlikely that single type of sensor or energy harvester will exist in all possible cyber-physical systems. Therefore, it is important to create a range of designs in order to reach a greater portion of cyber-physical systems. The second contribution of this work is the design of a PUF based on piezo sensors. Our third contribution is the design of a PUF that utilizes thermistor temperature sensors. The fourth contribution of this work is a proposed solar cell based PUF design. Furthermore, as a fifth contribution of this dissertation we evaluate a selection of common solar cell materials to establish which type of solar cell would be best suited to the creation of a PUF based on the operating conditions. The viability of the proposed designs is evaluated through testing in terms of reliability and uniformity. In addition, Monte Carlo simulations are performed to evaluate the uniqueness property of the designs. For our final contribution we illustrate the security benefits that can be achieved through the adoption of PUFs by cyber-physical systems. For this purpose we chose to highlight vehicles since they are a very popular example of a cyber-physical system and they face unique security challenges which are not readily solvable by standard solutions. Our contribution is the proposal of a novel controller area network (CAN) security framework that is based on PUFs. The framework does not require any changes to the underlying CAN protocol and also minimizes the amount of additional message passing overhead needed for its operation. The proposed framework is a good example of how the cost associated with implementing such a framework could be further reduced through the adoption of our proposed PUF designs. The end result is a method which could introduce security to an inherently insecure system while also making its integration as seamless as possible by attempting to minimize the need for additional hardware

Statistical evaluation of PUF implementation techniques as applied to quantum confinement semiconductors

Physically unclonable functions, or PUFs, present a means to securely identify objects, both implicit and attached, alongside several uses in conventional secure communication techniques. Many types of PUF based on varying sources of fingerprint entropy have been suggested, and the higher-level theoretical properties and implications of this primitive have been extensively discussed. However, each different prospective implementation of PUF typically approaches the practical considerations for the conversion from a unique entropy source to ultimate PUF implementation anew. These studies typically treat the intermediate processing schema, such as response binning, solely as a means to an end rather than a subject of explicit discussion and evaluation. As such, there exist few studies into developing a general framework for the optimisation and simulation of the important elements that lie between the measurement of the particular entropy source and the evaluation of the final device as a whole. This thesis seeks to outline and validate a generalised schema for the conversion of entropy source to final results, presenting the fundamental design elements and figures of merit for the process at every stage where applicable. Further to this, each stage of the process is expressed analytically, allowing the direct derivation of the ultimate figures of merit based on the measurement outcomes of the initial source of entropy. To validate, this process is applied towards the resonant tunnelling diode (RTD) as the prospective entropic unit cell. This type of semiconductor device has several properties that make it an interesting candidate upon which to base a PUF, and this work additionally seeks to outline these benefits and enumerate the general comparative figures of merit for a PUF derived therefrom