Patent ID: 7941769

Claim:
A method to enhance the electronic design automation software to protect IC design or IC design IP from leaking to market from outsourced GDSII file, without adding encryption hardware, comprising of: Electronic design automation software selecting a set of registers, a set of input ports, and a set output ports of the IC logic designs to be protected, where each set can be empty, and marking all selected items as secure elements, from the IC logic design software data base; Generating a bit for each item marked as secure and, defining whether 0 or 1 value of a bit represents inversion, and the bits generated are called real key; Inserting inverters to each item marked as secure if the corresponding generated bit represents inversion; if the item marked as secure is a register or an input, inserting an inverter to the net it drives; if the item marked as secure is an output, inserting an inverter to the net that drives it; Mapping all items marked as secure to secure gates during technology mapping of the IC logic design, where the secure gates are defined as followings: if an item marked as secure is a register, mapping it to a secure register which is a normal register with a reconfigurable switch box; if item marked as secure is an input port, adding a reconfigurable switch box driven by the input port and mapping the output of the switch box drives all nets driven by the original input port; if an item marked as secure is an output port, adding a reconfigurable switch box driving the output port and mapping the net driving the output port to drive the switch box; Generating a so called fake key by randomly selecting a subset of the bits in the real key and revert the selected bits; Generating a fake netlist by hardwiring the secure switch boxes to the corresponding bits in the fake key in the mapped netlist and using it to test during manufacturing; Manufacturing the secure switches to programmable switches, such as, (but not limited to,) flash memory, anti-fuse switch, SRAM based switch, and pass-transistor; Programming secure switches using the real key after manufacturing.