SecuCode: Intrinsic PUF Entangled Secure Wireless Code Dissemination for Computational RFID Devices

The simplicity of deployment and perpetual operation of energy harvesting devices provides a compelling proposition for a new class of edge devices for the Internet of Things. In particular, Computational Radio Frequency Identification (CRFID) devices are an emerging class of battery-free, computational, sensing enhanced devices that harvest all of their energy for operation. Despite wireless connectivity and powering, secure wireless firmware updates remains an open challenge for CRFID devices due to: intermittent powering, limited computational capabilities, and the absence of a supervisory operating system. We present, for the first time, a secure wireless code dissemination (SecuCode) mechanism for CRFIDs by entangling a device intrinsic hardware security primitive Static Random Access Memory Physical Unclonable Function (SRAM PUF) to a firmware update protocol. The design of SecuCode: i) overcomes the resource-constrained and intermittently powered nature of the CRFID devices; ii) is fully compatible with existing communication protocols employed by CRFID devices in particular, ISO-18000-6C protocol; and ii) is built upon a standard and industry compliant firmware compilation and update method realized by extending a recent framework for firmware updates provided by Texas Instruments. We build an end-to-end SecuCode implementation and conduct extensive experiments to demonstrate standards compliance, evaluate performance and security.Comment: Accepted to the IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computin

COSMOS Lecture Series: Reinventing the Physical Layer to Create Interactive Sensingand Computing Systems

Presented on April 11, 2019 at 10:45 a.m. in the Marcus Nanotechnology Building, Room 1116, Georgia Tech.COSMOS Lecture SeriesAlanson Sample joined the University of Michigan in September as an Associate Professor in Computer Science and Engineering. His research interests lie broadly in the areas of Human-Computer Interaction, wireless technology, and embedded systems. He has spent the majority of his career working in academic minded industry research labs.Most recently he was the Executive Lab Director of Disney Research in Los Angeles where he led researchers in creating new guest experiences through innovations in Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Computer Vision and Human Computer Interaction. Prior to Disney, he was a Research Scientist at Intel Labs in Hillsboro working on energy harvesting for wearable and Internet of Things applications. He also held a postdoctoral research position in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington. There, he worked with doctors from the Yale School of Medicine to develop wirelessly powered and fully implantable heart pumps. Alanson received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 2011 from the University of Washington. Throughout his graduate studies, he worked at Intel Research, Seattle on projects related to wireless power delivery using magnetically coupled resonance, energy harvesting as well as ubiquitous sensing and computing.Runtime: 45:48 minutesHarnessing electromagnetic waves has changed how we live, work, and play. While the semiconductor industry has enabled faster, cheaper, and lower power wireless computing devices, there is the opportunity to use this underlying technology to re-examine the physical layer and explore novel sensing mechanisms, new wireless communication techniques, and innovative ways of harvesting energy and delivering power wirelessly. This talk presents an overview of ongoing projects which aims to create new interactive sensing experiences through innovations in hardware and software. Topics will include the use of signal processing techniques that turn battery-free, long-range RFID tags into minimalistic sensors, methods for turning everyday walls into touch interfaces, as well as backscatter sensor nodes that run perpetually off of harvested power

Quasistatic Cavity Resonance for Ubiquitous Wireless Power Transfer

<div><p>Wireless power delivery has the potential to seamlessly power our electrical devices as easily as data is transmitted through the air. However, existing solutions are limited to near contact distances and do not provide the geometric freedom to enable automatic and un-aided charging. We introduce quasistatic cavity resonance (QSCR), which can enable purpose-built structures, such as cabinets, rooms, and warehouses, to generate quasistatic magnetic fields that safely deliver kilowatts of power to mobile receivers contained nearly anywhere within. A theoretical model of a quasistatic cavity resonator is derived, and field distributions along with power transfer efficiency are validated against measured results. An experimental demonstration shows that a 54 m³ QSCR room can deliver power to small coil receivers in nearly any position with 40% to 95% efficiency. Finally, a detailed safety analysis shows that up to 1900 watts can be transmitted to a coil receiver enabling safe and ubiquitous wireless power.</p></div

Measured and theoretical results.

<p>Measured, simulated, and analytically computed magnetic fields, (a), and electric fields, (b), when 15 W is transferred to a receiver at 50% efficiency. (c) Analytically computed WPT efficiency, <i>G</i>_<i>max</i> between the QSCR room and the receiver of <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0169045#pone.0169045.g003" target="_blank">Fig 3c</a>. The blue dotted line shows where the data in panel (d) is taken. (d) Line-slice plot of <i>G</i>_<i>max</i> vs. distance from center of wireless power room.</p

SAR simulation.

<p>(a) Setup of SAR simulation in finite element software. (b) Horizontal slices of local SAR values when the pole carries a 140 A current.</p

Safe input power thresholds.

<p>Maximum permissible power levels (green region) as a function of transfer efficiency. Red line shows where SAR limit is exceeded when the human body model is 46 cm away from the central pole, and the black line is the action level or where the E-field magnitude exceeds 614 V/m at 46 cm away from the pole.</p