Non-Volatile Memory Side-Channel Attack Protection via Inversion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing data security methods are ineffective in mitigating side-channel attacks on memory devices, as these attacks exploit power consumption and radiation signals during logic transitions, allowing unauthorized access to secret information.
Innovation Solution
A non-volatile memory device with control logic that writes data values and their complements simultaneously to different sections of the memory array, ensuring that the current drawn is invariant regardless of the data written, thereby masking side-channel leakage signals. This is achieved through the use of an inverter, current sink, or emulated NVM cells, and additional control bits to indicate whether the original or complemented value is stored.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If data values are written to NVM array, then data storage function is achieved, but side-channel leakage signals are emitted during logic transitions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies inversion by writing both the original data value and its complement to the NVM array simultaneously. This causes logic transitions in opposite directions (one bit transitions 0→1 while its complement transitions 1→0), making the total power consumption independent of the actual data value being written, thereby eliminating side-channel leakage signals that reveal secret information
2Quantity of substance
If only data values are written to NVM array, then storage capacity is fully utilized, but current consumption varies with data transitions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the complement data as a counterweight to the original data. When original data bits transition, the complement bits transition in the opposite direction, creating counterbalancing current consumption that cancels out the variation, resulting in constant total current draw regardless of the data pattern being written
3Reliability
If data values are written to NVM array, then data storage is achieved, but radiation signals are emitted during transitions
Solution Approach 1:
By simultaneously writing original data and its complement to the NVM array, the patent ensures that for every bit transitioning in one direction (emitting radiation), there is a corresponding complement bit transitioning in the opposite direction (absorbing or emitting opposite phase radiation), thereby canceling out the net radiation signals that could be exploited for side-channel attacks
Data Source
AI summary
A non-volatile memory (NVM) device includes an NVM array, which is configured to store data, and control logic. The control logic is configured to receive data values for storage in the NVM array, and to write at least some of the received data values to the NVM array and simultaneously to write complements of the at least some of the received data values.