Resolving the trilemma in logic encryption

Hai Zhou, Amin Rezaei, Yuanqi Shen

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Logic encryption, a method to lock a circuit from unauthorized use unless the correct key is provided, is the most important technique in hardware IP protection. However, with the discovery of the SAT attack, all traditional logic encryption algorithms are broken. New algorithms after the SAT attack are all vulnerable to structural analysis unless a provable obfuscation is applied to the locked circuit. But there is no provable logic obfuscation available, in spite of some vague resorting to logic resynthesis. In this paper, we formulate and discuss a trilemma in logic encryption among locking robustness, structural security, and encryption efficiency, showing that pre-SAT approaches achieve only structural security and encryption efficiency, and post-SAT approaches achieve only locking robustness and encryption efficiency. There is also a dilemma between query complexity and error number in locking. We first develop a theory and solution to the dilemma in locking between query complexity and error number. Then, we provide a provable obfuscation solution to the dilemma between structural security and locking robustness. We finally present and discuss some results towards the resolution of the trilemma in logic encryption.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publication2019 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Computer-Aided Design, ICCAD 2019 - Digest of Technical Papers
PublisherInstitute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc.
ISBN (Electronic)9781728123509
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2019
Event38th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Computer-Aided Design, ICCAD 2019 - Westin Westminster, United States
Duration: Nov 4 2019Nov 7 2019

Publication series

NameIEEE/ACM International Conference on Computer-Aided Design, Digest of Technical Papers, ICCAD
Volume2019-November
ISSN (Print)1092-3152

Conference

Conference38th IEEE/ACM International Conference on Computer-Aided Design, ICCAD 2019
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityWestin Westminster
Period11/4/1911/7/19

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Software
  • Computer Science Applications
  • Computer Graphics and Computer-Aided Design

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