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Fiber-based COA This project is a predecessor to the RFDNA work. Here we use paper with randomly infused optical fibers to create certificates of authenticity. A certificate of authenticity (COA) is an inexpensively manufactured object which is expensive to near-exactly replicate. Commonly, it is physically attached to a product with an objective to vouch for its authenticity. We follow the idea that was first introduced by Bauder and Simmons at the Sandia National Labs [1,2]. Each COA instance is created as a collection of fibers randomly positioned in an object using a transparent gluing material which permanently fixes fibers’ positions. Readout of the random structure of a fiber-based COA can be performed in numerous ways using the following fact: if one end of a fiber is illuminated, the other end will also be lit. A collection of optical fibers are to be described in a dimensionality that is higher than that of a regular two-dimensional image. This high dimensionality, coupled with the uniqueness of each randomly-generated fiber pattern, makes the proposed COAs drastically different from the typical counterfeit deterrents such as holograms and micro-threads, which are either two-dimensional, or unvarying, or both in nature [3]. Two-dimensional features are easily copied by the use of printers or special press-molding devices. One of the key optimization technologies in the development of fiber-based COAs is point-(sub)set compression; we have developed three near-optimal algorithms in [4,5,6] with different performance features. Learn more about fiber-based COAs from [4,5,6]. The following patent applications cover the novel ideas (one, two, three). The photos below describe the fiber-COA reader developed by Yuqun Chen at Microsoft Research.
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