Implements Parallel Configuration and Different Transistor Threshold Voltages, Making Circuits Resilient to Reverse Engineering
This enhanced threshold voltage-defined logic family enables the secure design and operation of Boolean functions, resilient to reverse engineering. Hardware intellectual properties (IPs) and integrated circuits (ICs) are prone to reverse engineering. While reverse engineering is beneficial for learning and understanding diverse IPs and ICs, it often associates with illegal issues regarding security, such as IP/IC piracy, counterfeiting, and Trojan insertions. It also reveals the design to third parties. Obscuring the designs of intellectual properties and integrated circuits is of concern for designers. Recently, diverse logic families leveraging the different threshold voltage (VT) devices in general CMOS technologies, with different VT transistors such as low VT transistors, standard VT transistors, and high VT transistors, can conceal and protect hardware intellectual properties and integrated circuits against reverse engineering. The logic functionalities in these designs are not distinguishable through physical appearance, as the gates leverage different threshold voltage implants that are difficult to identify through reverse engineering. However, the number of threshold voltage-defined transistors and transistors in the stack increase significantly with the increase of inputs.
Researchers at the University of Florida developed an enhanced threshold voltage defined (E-TVD) logic family with a parallel configuration for designing Boolean functions. This enables the logic family to use different threshold voltages while eliminating the need for stacking transistors in series. It protects the logics in hardware intellectual property and integrated circuits from reverse engineering and reduces the area, delay, and power consumption.
Application
Implements a parallel configuration, simplifying the circuit design of the enhanced threshold voltage defined (E-TVD) logic family for designing Boolean function resistant to reverse engineering
Advantages
- The logic circuit designs leverage different threshold voltage implants, protecting the hardware's intellectual properties and integrated circuits against reverse engineering
- Implements a parallel configuration to accommodate the increased number of inputs for completing Boolean functions, reducing area, delay, and power consumption
- The enhanced threshold voltage defined (E-TVD) logic family increases the number of inputs, enabling the operation of multiple Boolean functions
Technology
The parallel configuration of this enhanced threshold voltage-defined (E-TVD) logic family enables the operation of multiple Boolean functions. Unlike traditional threshold voltage-defined logic families, the enhanced threshold voltage-defined circuit operates as different gates by utilizing the various threshold voltage of transistors, significantly reducing the total number of transistors required to implement the same function. The parallel configuration design simplifies designing complex logic circuits and improves the circuit's area, delay, and power consumption while making it more resistant to reverse engineering.
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