Secret-Carrying Logic Circuit for Reverse Engineering Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
The semiconductor industry faces significant threats from reverse engineering of integrated circuits, which can lead to the theft and cloning of circuit designs, compromising trade secrets and intellectual property.
Innovation Solution
The integration of secret-carrying gates, such as MH cells, into electronic circuits that generate Boolean secrets and store state transitions, making it difficult for attackers to reverse engineer the circuits by restricting permissible input state transitions and requiring correct timing for output measurement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If secret-carrying gates are integrated into the circuit to protect against reverse engineering, then security against reverse engineering is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the functional parameters of circuit gates by integrating secret-carrying gates (such as MH cells) that incorporate Boolean secrets into their logic operations. These gates modify their behavior based on secret states, transforming standard logic gates into security-enhanced components without requiring a complete redesign of the circuit architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent embeds secret-carrying gates within the existing circuit structure, nesting the security functionality inside the normal operational logic. The secret-carrying gates are integrated into the switching network and flip-flop structures, allowing security protection to be embedded within the functional circuitry rather than added as a separate layer.
2Measurement precision
If secret-carrying gates with state sequences are used, then measurement precision of circuit behavior is improved, but difficulty of detecting and measuring increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs periodic clock signals to advance the state sequences of secret-carrying gates through discrete time steps. The Boolean secrets are revealed in a periodic manner synchronized with the clock cycles, allowing precise measurement of outputs at specific time points while maintaining security during intermediate states.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent makes the circuit behavior dynamic by implementing state sequences that evolve over time. The secret-carrying gates transition through different states based on clock signals, making the circuit's behavior time-dependent and difficult to analyze statically, while allowing controlled measurement at specific moments in the sequence.
3Adaptability or versatility
If switching networks combine control states with Boolean secrets, then functional versatility is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates universal switching networks that can perform multiple functions by combining control states with Boolean secrets. The same switching network structure can implement different logic functions depending on the secret states, allowing a single circuit design to serve multiple purposes without requiring separate dedicated circuits for each function.
Data Source
AI summary
According to one embodiment, an integrated electronic circuit has a switching network configured to receive binary control states, one or more secret-carrying gates, wherein each secret-carrying gate represents Boolean secrets and is configured to receive binary input states and to output one or more Boolean secrets according to a state sequence of the binary input states, and one or more flip-flops configured to store binary output states output by the switching network and to supply binary input states to the one or more secret-carrying gates based on the stored binary output states. The switching network generates the binary output states by combining the binary control states and Boolean secrets output by the one or more secret-carrying gates. The integrated electronic circuit outputs Boolean secrets from the one or more secret-carrying gates and/or the binary output states from the switching network to another integrated electronic circuit.