ARLINGTON, VA – Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency supported researchers have unveiled so-called "dielets" said to be capable of securing the authenticity of electronics components and products.

Under DARPA's Supply Chain Hardware Integrity of Electronics Defense (SHIELD) program for semiconductor chiplets, researchers have produced dummy dielets to help them learn how to dice, sort, pick and place such small components, which would affix to individual chips with a footprint the size of a dust speck.

If fully developed as envisioned, each dielet would host up to 100,000 transistors and have two-way radio communication, on-board encryption, an energy harvesting function that casts away the need for a battery, and passive sensors for tamper-detection, while consuming fewer than 50µW and costing a fraction of a cent.

In the future, these dielets are intended to safeguard against an expanding arena of 21st Century crime that could threaten the trustworthiness of just about anything with a chip in it, from smart credit cards to engine-controlling automotive computers to F-16 fighter-jet radar systems, says DARPA.

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