I-Corps: Novel Smart Meters with Built-in Self-Test and Hardware Security

在电网中集成可靠的信息技术将有助于在分布式发电和可再生能源存在的情况下进行有效和高效的能源管理。该团队的技术采用了面向硬件的安全和信任、内置自检和设备身份验证，可应用于任何采用VLSI/FPGA芯片并面临安全风险的行业。例如，这项技术可以集成到医疗行业的医疗仪器和汽车行业的仪表板芯片中，使它们更安全、可靠和值得信赖。这个i-Corps项目是基于NSF早期资助的面向硬件的数字/集成电路安全和测试领域的研究。它在智能电表中的应用通过提供远程可重新配置来适应当前和未来的技术进步和额外的安全性，从而克服了当前电表的问题。虽然美国有多家智能电表制造商，但该项目的技术重点放在系统的硬件可重编程性(导致更长的寿命和可扩展性)、可靠性和安全性上。此外，目前的智能电表不容易随着技术的进步而更新。拟议的仪表基于基于特殊硬件的技术提供高安全性，并包含内置自检电路。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is based on enhancing the reliability, longevity, security, and trustworthiness of the advanced metering infrastructure in smart grids. The integration of trustworthy information technology in the power grid will facilitate effective and efficient energy management in the presence of distributed generation with renewable sources. This team's technology, employing hardware-oriented security and trust, built-in self-test, and device authentication, can be applied to any industry that employs VLSI/FPGA chips and faces security risks. For example, this technology can be integrated into medical instrumentation in the health industry and dash-board chips in vehicles in the auto industry to make them more secure, reliable, and trustworthy.This I-Corps project is based on earlier NSF funded research in the area of hardware-oriented security and testing of digital/integrated circuits. Its application in smart meters overcomes current meters problems by providing remote re-configurability to accommodate current and future technology advancements and additional security. While there are multiple smart meter manufacturers in the US, this project's technology has a strong focus on hardware re-programmability (leading to increased longevity and expandability), reliability, and security of the system. Also, current smart meters are not easily updated as technology advances. The proposed meters provide high security, based on special hardware based techniques, and incorporate built-in self-test circuitry. Hardware-oriented security is implemented using physical unclonable functions which provide authentication and trust to the programmable chip and also establish the authenticity of the smart meter. The meters can also detect the presence of hardware Trojans, which can be implanted by untrusted manufacturers and foundries abroad, to steal information or hamper the functionality of the device.