CAD-based Security, Cryptography, and Digital Rights Management

Manufacturing variability is inherent to many silicon and nano-scale technologies and can be manifested in many different ways and modalities (e.g. power and delay). We propose a flow that starts with gate-level integrated circuit (IC) characterization which results in unique identification (ID). The ID´s are an integrated part of the design functionality and software and provide a basis for conceptually new CAD-based security protocols. As an examples, we present a new IC metering schemes that ensure very low overhead and digital right management in horizontally integrated IC market. Therefore, after many years of CAD importing and benefiting from many other areas such as numerical analysis, theoretical CS, VLSI design, computer architectures, and compilers, CAD has its historical chance to impact many fields of computer science and engineering through manufacturing variability-based security and right management.