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Describe the motives of the semiconductor industry to shift to a horizontal business model. How does horizontal business model reduce cost and time-to-market? Why are most companies becoming fabless? Describe the different types of IPs that can be procured from third-party vendors. What types of tests are performed on a fabricated chip by the Foundry […]

All security vulnerabilities are intentionally introduced. DFT does not create security issues. SoC developers are potential victims of IP piracy. Out-of-spec. parts have reliability issues.

Let us consider the following data for a semiconductor design company “X”: • Actual yield, Y = 0.9 • Die area A = 1.5 cm × 1.5 cm • Dies are processed on an R = 200 mm diameter wafer at $1500/wafer • Each mask cost $100,000 (Total 10 masks) • 5-man development team at

Describe the taxonomy of different types of counterfeits. 1. Explain how IP overuse and IP piracy may take place. Provide respective examples. 2. Why do overproduced ICs cost less than their original counterpart? 3. Why does using out-of-spec chips pose a threat? 4. Why are Trojans inserted by the foundry difficult to detect? 5. What

Describe the lifecycle of a modern electronic hardware / ASIC design. 1. Classify the attacks on hardware IPs in terms of the attacker’s origin and intent. Briefly describe possible attack instances of hardware Trojan and IC overproduction. 2. How can an IP be exploited via reverse engineering? Briefly explain potential attack instances of reverse engineering.

In the high level block diagram of a PCB used in a TV set top box the Digital Right Management (DRM) key is stored in a non-volatile memory (NVM) which goes to a comparator that generates the channel grant access signal. Describe a possible tampering attack that can bypass this protection. You can update the

Define hardware Trojans. What is the definition of a Modchip? What is JTAG? What primary purpose a PCB serves in any electronic hardware system? Describe possible attacks on a PCB.

Only untrusted design houses are vulnerable to PCB attacks. 1. Trusted design houses are not susceptible to malicious attacks. 2. Modchip attacks are prevalent in gaming consoles. 3. PCB reverse engineering requires industry-grade equipment and expertise. 4. It is comparatively easier to find a Trojan in multilayer PCBs.

Weak PUF is ideal for detecting counterfeit ICs via CRP-based authentication schemes. Error Correction Code (ECC) schemes can be used to improve the robustness for both PUF responses and TRNG outputs. A ring oscillator (RO)-PUF is basically a delay-based PUF. A TRNG must rely on random intrinsic or runtime noise.

Describe a potential attack instance when the design house is trusted in the PCB manufacturing process. Illustrate the scenario with an appropriate case study. 1. What would be an attack instance on PCBs manufactured in untrusted design houses? Describe with a relevant case study. 2. What are the possible attacks on PCBs? Explain the taxonomy