Private Verification of Microelectronics Design Representations
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing verification techniques for microelectronics design representations require exposure of proprietary implementation details, compromising confidentiality and intellectual property protection, especially in FPGA devices where bitstream formats are closely held for security reasons.
Innovation Solution
A 'Private Verification' method and tool that assesses the trustworthiness of microelectronics device design representations without exposing design or bitstream implementation format details, using a public description to autonomously verify against a private implementation, ensuring confidentiality and preventing unauthorized access or reverse engineering.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional verification techniques are used to assess microelectronics design representations, then verification accuracy is improved, but proprietary implementation details are exposed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary verification process that operates on abstracted representations of the design rather than the actual proprietary implementation details. The verification tool receives anonymized or aggregated design characteristics as input, performs verification operations, and produces results without ever exposing or requiring access to the confidential bitstream format or implementation specifics. This intermediary layer enables accurate verification while maintaining the confidentiality barrier.
2Reliability
If proprietary bitstream formats are kept confidential to protect IP, then IP protection is improved, but third-party verification capability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential verification-relevant characteristics from the proprietary bitstream format, separating these from the confidential implementation details. The verification process operates on these extracted characteristics alone, which are sufficient for verification purposes but do not reveal the proprietary format structure. This extraction approach enables third-party verification capability while maintaining IP protection by leaving the core proprietary format confidential.
3Reliability
If comprehensive design details are exposed for verification, then verification thoroughness is improved, but security risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing different levels of information disclosure to different parties or for different purposes. The verification process receives only the specific local characteristics needed for verification (such as functional behavior, interface specifications, or performance metrics) while the rest of the design remains confidential. This selective disclosure enables thorough verification of critical aspects without exposing the entire design to security risks.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus, method, and system assess the trustworthiness of a design representation while maintaining its confidentiality and thwarting attempts at unauthorized access, misappropriation, and reverse engineering of confidential proprietary aspects of the design representation and/or its bit stream. A utility/tool is provided for trust assessment and verification of designs and/or bit streams. The utility/tool may be instantiated on a semiconductor device or implemented as a utility executable on a mobile computing device or other information processing system, apparatus, or network.