Path-delay fingerprinting for identification of recovered ICs

Abstract

The counterfeiting of integrated circuits (ICs) has been on the rise over the past decade, impacting the security and reliability of electronic systems. Reports show that recovered ICs contribute to about 80% of all counterfeit ICs in the market today. Such ICs are recovered from scrapped boards of used devices. Identification of such counterfeit ICs is a great challenge since these ICs have an identical appearance, functionality, and package as fresh ICs. In this paper, a novel path-delay fingerprinting technique is proposed to distinguish recovered ICs from fresh ICs. Due to degradation in the field, the path delay distribution of recovered ICs will become different from that found in fresh ICs. Statistical data analysis can effectively separate the impact of process variations from aging effects on path delay. Simulation results of benchmark circuits using 45 nm technology demonstrate the efficiency of this technique for recovered IC identification.