Ricerc@Sapienza

Security of sensible data for ultraconstrained IoT smart devices is one of the most challenging task in modern design. The needs of CPA-resistant cryptographic devices has to deal with the demanding requirements of small area and small impact on the overall power consumption. In this work, a novel current-mode feedback suppressor as on-chip analog-level CPA countermeasure is proposed. It aims to suppress differences in power consumption due to data-dependency of CMOS cryptographic devices, in order to counteract CPA attacks.

A 4th-order Butterworth class-AB current-mode low-pass filter is proposed, based on second-generation Current Conveyors (CCII). Class-AB operation allows high-power efficiency and driving large loads with small quiescent currents. The CCII topology uses the class-AB output buffer with error amplifiers: this topology is known to be sensitive to mismatch errors, which cause offsets in the error amplifiers, affecting the biasing current of the stage. This problem is solved via a control loop, which compensates the effect of mismatches.