Biometrics for electronic eyes: system authentication with embedded CMOS image sensor

Identically designed electronic devices such as transistors may have random variations in their physical quantities. Inspired by human biometrics, this paper presents a novel approach that enables home appliances to have unique identities based on the intrinsic features of a CMOS image sensor (CIS) embedded in their electronic eyes (i.e., inbuilt cameras). More specifically, the column component of the fixed pattern noise (FPN) that inevitably exists in most modern CISs is utilized as a unique feature of the CIS for describing a unique ID for the embedded system. To practically capture column FPNs that were originally canceled out by a correlated double sampling (CDS) process, this paper also proposes a novel readout scheme. The feasibility of the proposed CIS-based identification is assessed with real measurements using 12 CIS prototypes. In conclusion, a set of applications requiring unique device identifications are presented for demonstrating the utility of the proposed approach in the domain of consumer electronics.
¹