Threshold Voltage-Defined Switches for Programmable Gates

Competitive Advantages

  • Switch leaves no layout trace
  • Helps resist Reverse Engineering (RE)
  • Resist intellectual property piracy
  • Logic gates are visually identical but not functionally

Summary

Inventors at USF have developed a novel switch that can be used in conjunction with nominal threshold voltage transistors to camouflage the gate. Transistor threshold voltage-defined switches can camouflage a logic gate both logically and physically to resist against reverse engineering and IP piracy.  A camouflaged gate can function as one of NAND, AND, NOR, OR, XOR, or XNOR robustly using threshold-defined switches. The camouflaged design operates at a nominal voltage and conforms to conventional reliability requirements. The design of a circuit can be personalized using camouflaged gates during manufacturing. Apart from main stream electronics and services, this technology can find applications in military electronics, used in mission critical systems and intelligence agencies. 

Camouflage Gate Exhibiting 6 Functionalities  

Desired Partnerships

  • License
  • Sponsored Research
  • Co-Development
Patent Information:
Title App Type Country Serial No. Patent No. File Date Issued Date Expire Date
Threshold Voltage Defined Switches for Programmable Camouflage Gates Nationalized PCT United States 16/011,977 10,177,768 6/19/2018 1/8/2019 2/22/2037