Capacitive sensing method for integrated circuit identification, authentication, and tamper detection

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for Integrated Circuit (IC) identification, authentication, and tamper detection. Die identification, authentication, and tamper detection techniques are described that employ capacitive sensing of on-chip interconnect. The signal and power routing in ICs have nominal capacitance values that are characteristic of their foundry, and the variance of these values, due to process tolerances, is unique to each device. Measuring these capacitances provides not only support for determining the authenticity of the device and fabrication site, but also provides distinct identification of each part. By integrating Capacitance-to-Digital Converters (CDCs) with low power and area overhead, capacitance values from intrinsic functional nets can be reported, and the need for separate additive test circuitry can be avoided.