PAGE TITLE
Protecting Analog Circuits with Parameter Biasing Obfuscation
PAGE SUMMARY
As the electronic component supply chain grows more complex due to globalization, with parts coming from a diverse set of suppliers, counterfeit electronics have become a major challenge that calls for immediate solutions. The need for protection of chip technologies becomes greater and greater as chip designs become more valuable, and as tools for the simple extraction of the circuit from its physical instantiation become more sophisticated. Analog and mixed signal layouts are among the most complex and time-consuming designs to produce, and thus are some of the most valuable designs. Previous IC protection techniques have focused on protecting Digital IP from the overproduction, counterfeiting, and trojan insertion. However, not enough research has yet addresses the protection of Analog IP.
Addressing the above issues, Researchers at Drexel have now developed a novel key-based encryption technique to protect analog IP from reverse engineering and counterfeiting. Setting the correct biasing points in an analog circuit is critical to establishing proper operating conditions, as circuit functionality and performance are directly dependent on the set bias voltages and currents. Drexel’s key based encryption technique obfuscates the physical dimensions of the transistors used to set these optimal biasing conditions and, based on an applied key sequence, provides a range of potential biasing points. Only when the correct key sequence is applied and certain transistor(s) are active, are the correct biasing conditions set at the target node. The technique is applicable to various biasing parameters including setting the voltage or current at a node or modifying the gain of the circuit. By implementing the proposed technique on multiple analog components in the integrated circuit, the key space is increased and the overall security is further improved. The analog obfuscation technique complements existing digital logic encryption to further protect modern ICs.
APPLICATIONS
TITLE: Applications
Security against IP theft, counterfeiting, and overproduction of analog and mixed signal circuits.
ADVANTAGES
TITLE:Advantages
Improved analog IC security with almost no increase in area, power consumption and phase noise.
Probability of determining the correct key sequence through a brute force attack is 9.095×10−13 .
Makes it impossible for an untrusted foundry to reverse engineer the IC though it has access to the IC design and processes and possesses necessary tools and skills to counterfeit and overproduce the IC
IP STATUS
Intellectual Property and Development Status
Patent Pending : U.S. Patent Application No. 15/918,278
PUBLICATIONS
References
V. V. Rao and I. Savidis, "Protecting analog circuits with parameter biasing obfuscation," 2017 18th IEEE Latin American Test Symposium (LATS), Bogota, 2017, pp. 1-6.
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7906739
Contact Information
Harshith Reddy
Licensing Manager
215-571-4290
harshith@drexel.edu