Cloud-Based Digital Verification System for Secure Circuit Design

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Solution Overview

Problem

The security concerns associated with transferring and storing circuit design data in cloud-based systems for formal verification of digital circuits, as existing methods do not adequately protect sensitive information and ensure secure verification processes.

Innovation Solution

A method that reformulates the HDL representation of digital circuit designs into encrypted, reduced proof problems, which are then compressed and processed in a cloud-based engine without storing re-engineerable data, ensuring secure and efficient verification by using a local client tool and cloud-based engine with secure connections and encryption.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If circuit design data is transferred and stored in cloud-based systems for formal verification, then verification scalability and processing power are improved, but data security and confidentiality are compromised

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveverification scalabilityVSAvoiddata security
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The verification system is segmented into local client components that retain sensitive design data and cloud-based components that perform verification processing. The design data is divided into encrypted verification tasks that are processed in the cloud without exposing the actual design information, thus enabling scalable verification while maintaining security.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

An encryption layer acts as an intermediary between the local design data and cloud processing. The design data is transformed into encrypted verification tasks through a formal verification task generation process, allowing cloud-based processing without direct exposure of sensitive information. This intermediary mechanism enables both scalability and security.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If formal verification is performed using traditional local systems, then data security is maintained, but processing capacity and verification speed are limited

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedata securityVSAvoidverification processing capacity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system transitions from a single-dimension local processing model to a multi-dimensional architecture that combines local encryption task generation with cloud-based verification processing. This dimensional expansion allows the system to leverage cloud computing resources for scalable verification while maintaining local control over sensitive data, thus overcoming the processing capacity limitations of traditional local systems.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #17Another dimension (Dimensionality change)

3Measurement precision

If complete design data is transmitted to cloud for verification, then verification accuracy is improved, but transmission time and data exposure risk increase

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveverification accuracyVSAvoiddata transmission time
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system extracts only the essential verification logic and constraints from the complete design data, transforming them into compact encrypted verification tasks. This extraction process removes unnecessary design information that would increase transmission time and exposure risk, while retaining sufficient information for accurate formal verification in the cloud.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentEP2797017B1Cloud-based digital verification system and method
Publication Date: 2020.04.01 ONESPIN SOLUTIONS
  • EP2797017B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2797017B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2797017B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

A method for formal verification of a digital circuit using a cloud-based verification engine. The method comprises extracting a proof problem from a design of a digital circuit with a local processor, reducing said proof problem to proof relevant data, encrypting said reduced proof problem, transmitting said encrypted reduced proof problem to a remote server, decrypting said encrypted reduced proof problem at said remote server, storing said reduced proof problem in a memory at said remote server, running a proof on said reduced proof problem at said remote server to generate a proof result; encrypting said proof result at said remote server; transmitting said encrypted proof result to said local processor; decrypting said encrypted proof result at said local processor; and reconstructing a verification result of said digital circuit design at said local processor using said decrypted proof result.