A Tutorial on Design Obfuscation: from Transistors to Systems

TL;DR

This tutorial provides a comprehensive overview of design obfuscation techniques across various levels of integrated circuit design, emphasizing recent advances, practical implementation, and supporting tools for non-specialists.

Contribution

It offers a clear, accessible summary of recent design obfuscation methods from transistors to systems, including practical tooling and fabrication considerations.

Findings

Summarizes recent advances in design obfuscation techniques.

Highlights available tools and fabrication support for obfuscated circuits.

Provides guidance for non-specialists on implementing obfuscation.

Abstract

The recent advances in the area of design obfuscation are encouraging, but may present themselves as hard to read for a non-specialist audience. This tutorial uncovers these advances in a clear language, contrasting the approaches that can be implemented at layout level, in the netlist of a circuit, or even at chip level. This tutorial also highlights the available support, both from the tooling side and the logistics of fabricating an obfuscated integrated circuit.