Blockchain IP Provenance Verification in EDA
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electronic design automation (EDA) tools do not verify the authenticity, integrity, and provenance of intellectual property (IP) blocks and their transformations in the design process of integrated circuits (ICs), leading to potential unauthorized modifications and lack of trust in the design flow.
Innovation Solution
A method utilizing digital signatures and blockchain technology to verify the authenticity, integrity, and provenance of IP blocks and their transformations in the IC design process, ensuring that inputs are validated, transformations are correctly verified, and outputs are protected with a chain of digital signatures recorded on a blockchain.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If digital signatures and blockchain technology are integrated into the EDA process, then the authenticity, integrity, and provenance of IP blocks are verified, but the device complexity and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
A blockchain-based intermediary system is introduced between EDA tools and IP block sources. This mediator verifies digital signatures, tracks provenance, and validates integrity without requiring modifications to existing EDA toolchains. The blockchain acts as a trusted third party that reconciles security requirements with existing design workflows.
Solution Approach 2:
Digital signatures are applied to IP blocks before they enter the EDA process, and their authenticity is verified in advance through blockchain validation. This preliminary verification prevents unauthorized modifications from propagating through the design flow, eliminating the need for complex runtime verification mechanisms.
2Loss of information
If digital signatures are applied to all IP blocks and transformations, then provenance tracking is improved, but the processing time and computational resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of verifying every single transformation step in real-time, the system creates cryptographic hashes and digital fingerprints of IP blocks at critical checkpoints. These copies serve as immutable records that can be verified efficiently without reprocessing the entire design flow, significantly reducing computational overhead while maintaining complete provenance tracking.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If input validation and output signing are implemented at each step, then security is improved, but the ease of operation and workflow simplicity decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The EDA tools are equipped with integrated blockchain verification capabilities that automatically validate digital signatures and check provenance information without requiring manual intervention. The system self-verifys the authenticity of IP blocks and automatically signs outputs, maintaining workflow simplicity while implementing comprehensive security measures.
Data Source
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AI summary
A method verifies an authenticity, integrity, and provenance of outputs from steps in a process flow. One or more processor(s) validate one or more inputs to each step in a process flow by verifying at least one of a hash and a digital signature of each of the one or more inputs. The processor(s) then generate digital signatures that cover outputs of each step and the one or more inputs to each step, such that the digital signatures result in a chain of digital signatures that are used to verify an authenticity, an integrity and a provenance of outputs of the one or more steps in the process flow.