Pufs from sensors and their calibration

A system comprising:

• a signal source that produces detectable signals;
• a secure terminal having a secure memory that stores physically unclonable function (PUF) challenge data;
• and
• a sensor system comprising:
• a calibration table that stores calibration data;
• a first sensor that converts the detectable signals into calibrated sensor data according to the calibration data;
• a second sensor that converts the detectable signals into uncalibrated sensor data;
• and
• a PUF generator that generates PUF responses by performing logical exclusive-or (XOR) operations on the calibrated sensor data and the uncalibrated sensor data, wherein the secure terminal compares the PUF responses to corresponding PUF challenges in the PUF challenge data to authenticate the sensor system.

A method for authenticating a sensor system comprising:

• with a secure terminal, issuing physically unclonable function (PUF) challenge data to the sensor system;
• with a PUF generator in the sensor system, generating PUF responses from calibration data in a calibration table in the sensor system;
• with the PUF generator, sending the PUF responses to the secure terminal;
• and
• with the secure terminal, comparing the PUF responses with corresponding PUF challenges in the PUF challenge data to determine a rate at which the PUF responses and the corresponding PUF challenges match.