NAND flash can verify a device's identity

12.08.2011
People who make, buy and sell flash storage could detect counterfeit products based on the unique "fingerprints" of the chips, using techniques being developed by university researchers.

Scholars at the University of California at San Diego and Cornell University have developed software to test variations in flash behavior that are unique to each chip, said Steven Swanson, an associate professor at UCSD and director of UCSD's Non-Volatile Systems Laboratory. By running the same test in the factory and then further up the supply chain, for example, a company could compare the results to verify that a flash chip was authentic, he said.

One industry observer believes this could be a useful tool.

"There's a lot of counterfeit in the [supply] chain," said analyst Roger Kay of Endpoint Technology Associates. It can be hard to detect, because the chain is not always as simple as a device maker contracting with one flash manufacturer to supply the chips for an entire production run of consumer devices, he said. System vendors need to fill unexpected surges in demand, so they often buy small lots of chips on the open market.

There are many third parties that buy and sell these chips, Kay said. "This is one of the biggest things they do, is verify parts, and it's a pain," Kay said.

UCSD's Swanson discussed his team's work at the Flash Memory Summit in Santa Clara, California, this week.