Memory-Free, Anti-Counterfeiting NFC Based on Physical Unclonable Function

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

As the rapid advent of quantum computing and artificial intelligence (AI) has threatened the heuristic hardness of conventional cryptographic standards, hardware-rooted security primitives have become essential for post-quantum resilience. This work proposes a new memory-free physical unclonable function (PUF) architecture tailored for secure wireless identification, authentication, and anti-counterfeiting applications. The core mechanism exploits a non-Foster parity-time (PT)-symmetric analog circuit comprising an active −RLC oscillator coupled with a passive RLC resonator via a negative mutual capacitance realized with a negative capacitance converter (NCC). The active oscillator serves as a gain stage via a negative resistance converter (NRC). The non-Foster PT-symmetric circuit exhibits a dramatic eigenfrequency bifurcation effect at a divergent exceptional point (DEP), for which hypersensitivity can amplify entropy and stochastic electronic property variations of analog circuits, thereby enabling on-demand generation of unique electromagnetic fingerprints. Furthermore, such randomized oscillatory signals can be digitized into a binary bit-sequence to modulate the backscattered RF signal. Our simulation results demonstrate that the proposed PUF instance based on the non-Foster PT-symmetric circuit can display excellent cryptographic performance in terms of randomness and uniqueness. The architecture further supports reconfigurable PUF encryption key generation, ensuring an expansive and secure key space for seamless integration into existing IoT platforms and RFID ecosystems. This work establishes a promising framework for robust physical-layer security and hardware-level protection against emerging cryptanalytic threats in the AI and quantum era.