Watermarking multiple constant multiplications solutions

Multiplications and multipliers dominate area, power and speed requirements of modern designs. A standard technique to reduce these requirements is to use combinations of shifts and additions to execute multiplications. The approach is particularly effective when multiple constant multiplications are necessary. We introduce a simple, yet effective multiple constant multiplication (MCM) algorithm based on the iterative probabilistic greedy principle. Reusability and time to market constraints and therefore rapid implementations of integrated circuits placed design intellectual property at risk for piracy. We introduce a new intellectual property protection (IPP) technique for the protection of IP during the process of implementing constant multiplications using shifts and additions. Specifically, we introduce eight hard and soft watermarking techniques applied during the preprocessing phase of the MCM process. We demonstrate the technique on a number of constant multiplication benchmarks. The technique consistently achieves high statistical proof of authorship while introducing acceptable overhead in terms of required shifters and adders.