Patent ID: 8418006

Claim:
A method to protect a design for an integrated circuit (“IC”), comprising: generating a unique identifier using an intrinsic characteristic of the IC; integrating, based on a value of the unique identifier, the unique identifier with the design; and generating an output based upon the integration of the unique identifier, wherein the output is used to implement the design in the IC; wherein integrating the unique identifier with the design comprises at least one of: EXCLUSIVE ORing a portion of the design with a portion of the unique identifier to produce a result, and inverting the result based on a value of the portion of the unique identifier, wherein the inverting is performed prior to performing a logic operation; or EXCLUSIVE ORinq a portion of the unique identifier with an output of user logic to produce a result, and inverting the result based on a value of the portion of the unique identifier, wherein the inverting is performed at a destination of the result.