PUF-based password generation scheme

A method for generating a first password and a second password for a physically unclonable function (PUF), comprising the steps of:

• transmitting, by a host, a user identification, a first random number, a second random number, a first instruction and a second instruction to an addressable PUF generator (APG) interface manager, wherein the host is configured to authenticate a plurality of distributed peripherals;
• generating a first input to a hash function using the user identification and the first random number;
• generating a second input to the hash function using the user identification and the second random number;
• generating, by the hash function, a first hash digest based on the first input to the hash function, wherein the first hash digest identifies a first location within an array of PUFs, wherein the array of PUFs is a memory array configured to generate a plurality of challenge response pairs that are unique to each PUF due to manufacturing variations in the array of PUFs as compared to other arrays of PUFs;
• generating, by the hash function, a second hash digest based on the second input to the hash function, wherein the second hash digest identifies a second location within the array of PUFs;
• generating, by a PUF controller, a first challenge from the first location within the array of PUFs using the first instruction;
• generating, by the PUF controller, a second challenge from the second location within the array of PUFs using the second instruction;
• creating a first password using the first instruction, the first random number and the first challenge, wherein the first password is configured to be converted back into the first instruction, the first random number and the first challenge;
• creating a second password using the second instruction, the second random number and the second challenge, wherein the second password is configured to be converted back into the second instruction, the second random number and the second challenge;
• transmitting, by the host, the first password to a distributed peripheral in the plurality of distributed peripherals, wherein the distributed peripheral is not physically connected to the array of PUFs and after transmitting the first password to the distributed peripheral, the host stores the first password in a first password database;
• and
• transmitting, by the host, the second password to the distributed peripheral, wherein after transmitting the second password to the distributed peripheral, the host does not store the second password.