CAREER: CAD Techniques and Tools for Intellectual Property Protection

使用专有设计（可重用内核）作为芯片上超大规模集成电路系统的一部分，取决于拥有可靠和有效的知识产权（IP）保护技术。本研究探讨了这种保护的技术。它包括用于保护CAD工具、可重用内核和嵌入式软件的水印（签名隐藏）方法。还正在探索的是一个指纹方案，和一个基于隐蔽通道的技术，用于有效地检测盗用（被盗）的IP。水印方法是在对作者签名进行编码的设计规范中添加设计和/或定时约束。指纹技术旨在阻止人们非法分发知识产权，使知识产权的作者能够唯一地识别转售副本的原始买家。隐蔽通道的概念是向作者传递信息而不惊动非法知识产权所有者的技术的基础。所提出的技术和算法的有效性将在工业强度设计上得到证明。 教育计划包括开发和使用水印技术和视频游戏，用于教授知识产权保护技术和其他材料。

The use of proprietary designs (reusable cores) as part of VLSI systems on a chip depends on having reliable and efficient techniques for intellectual property (IP) protection. This research investigates techniques for such protection. It includes a watermarking (signature hiding) approach for protecting CAD tools, reusable cores, and embedded software. Also being explored is a fingerprinting scheme, and a covert channel-based technique for the efficient detection of misappropriated (stolen) IP. The watermarking approach is the addition of design and/or timing constraints in the design specification which encode the author's signature. Fingerprinting techniques are meant to deter people from illegally distributing IP by enabling the author of the IP to uniquely identify the original buyer of a resold copy. The concept of covert channels is the basis for techniques which convey to the author information without alerting an illegal owner of IP. The effectiveness of the proposed techniques and algorithms will be demonstrated on industrial strength designs. The educational plan includes the development and use of watermarking techniques and video games for teaching IP protection techniques and other material.