Hardware Trojan Detection: Untrusted Third-Party IP Cores

Abstract

In general, third-party IP (3PIP) cores fall into one of three categories: soft, firm, and hard, depending on their format when they are supplied. Soft IP cores are described using VHDL or Verilog and are the most flexible and popular cores in practice. Firm cores are described and synthesized for specific libraries, while hard IP cores are described at the physical level and are supplied as layout or GDSII file. Since soft IP cores are the most widely used, detecting hardware Trojans in 3PIP, defined as IP trust, has gained significant attention in the recent years.