Visible to the public Latch-Based Logic Locking

TitleLatch-Based Logic Locking
Publication TypeConference Paper
Year of Publication2020
AuthorsSweeney, Joseph, Mohammed Zackriya, V, Pagliarini, Samuel, Pileggi, Lawrence
Conference Name2020 IEEE International Symposium on Hardware Oriented Security and Trust (HOST)
KeywordsClocks, delays, Human Behavior, Integrated circuit modeling, Latches, Logic gates, pattern locks, propagation delay, pubcrawl, Resiliency, Scalability, security
AbstractGlobalization of IC manufacturing has led to increased security concerns, notably IP theft. Several logic locking techniques have been developed for protecting designs, but they typically display very large overhead, and are generally susceptible to deciphering attacks. In this paper, we propose latch-based logic locking, which manipulates both the flow of data and logic in the design. This method converts an interconnected subset of existing flip-flops to pairs of latches with programmable phase. In tandem, decoy latches and logic are added, inhibiting an attacker from determining the actual design functionality. To validate this technique, we developed and verified a locking insertion flow, analyzed PPA and ATPG overhead on benchmark circuits and industry cores, extended existing attacks to account for the technique, and taped out a demonstration chip. Importantly, we show that the design overhead with this approach is significantly less than with previous logic locking schemes, while resisting model checker-based, oracle-driven attacks. With minimal delay overhead, large numbers of decoy latches can be added, cheaply increasing attack resistance.
DOI10.1109/HOST45689.2020.9300256
Citation Keysweeney_latch-based_2020