SHF:Small: OSCARS: Optimizing Self-Configurable Analog ICs for Reliability and Security

近年来，计算机芯片的生产，特别是模拟设计，已经在很大程度上转移到了海外，降低了设计复杂性和制造成本，因为代工厂和制造工艺变得昂贵。这种芯片面临两个问题：在物理限制下设备的不精确制造以及来自不可信代工厂的攻击。该项目开发的解决方案可以同时解决这两个问题。该项目还将在高中、本科和研究生阶段通过益智、挑战和竞赛等教育和推广活动，与下一代网络安全专家进行接触和教学。该研究的目标是开发一个多功能模拟IC设计平台，该平台可以同时实现来自不可信代工厂的弹性攻击，并在不精确制造的情况下提高性能。 主要的方法是内置的自我配置，使有效的电路实现的上电优化，这是增强逻辑锁定，和系统的设计时优化。该方法需要确定最佳调谐值，以使模拟设计按预期运行;这些调谐旋钮值被保密，以防止攻击。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The production of computer chips, specifically analog designs, has largely moved offshore in recent years, reducing design complexity and fabrication cost, because the foundries and the manufacturing process have become expensive. Such chips suffer from two problems: imprecise manufacturing of devices at physical limits and attacks from the untrusted foundry. This project develops solutions that can solve both the problems at once. The project also will engage with and teach the next generation of cybersecurity experts using puzzle-, challenge-, and competition-based educational and outreach activities at the high-school, undergraduate, and graduate levels.The goal of this research is to develop a versatile analog IC design platform that can achieve simultaneous resiliency attacks from the untrusted foundry and improve performance in the presence of imprecise manufacturing. The main approach is built-in self-configuration enabled by efficient circuit implementation of power-on optimization, which is enhanced by logic locking, and systematic design-time optimization. The approach entails identifying the optimal tuning values to make the analog design perform as desired; these tuning knob values are kept as a secret to prevent attacks.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.