Inspector SC2 Pre-Silicon Side Channel Analysis

Detect, localize, and mitigate side-channel leakage before tape-out. Inspector SC2 Pre-Silicon Side-Channel Analysis enables hardware security, design, and verification teams to identify side-channel vulnerabilities during design phase and development, before silicon is manufactured (pre-silicon). While traditional post-silicon testing can determine whether leakage exists in a fabricated device, Inspector provides visibility into where leakage originates within the design, helping teams identify the root cause and evaluate mitigation strategies earlier in the development lifecycle. By analyzing register-transfer level (RTL), synthesized netlist, and gate-level designs using simulation test vectors and Value Change Dump (VCD) files, Inspector SC2 Pre-Silicon Side-Channel Analysis identifies which signals leak, how much they leak, when leakage occurs, and where it originates within the design. This visibility enables teams to validate countermeasures, compare design alternatives, and reduce the cost and risk of discovering vulnerabilities after fabrication.

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Highlights

Inspector SC2 Pre-Silicon Side-Channel Analysis helps semiconductor teams detect and analyze side-channel leakage before tape-out, when design changes are faster, less costly, and easier to implement.

Using simulation test vectors, VCD activity files, and optional power models generated through existing electronic design automation (EDA) workflows, Inspector analyzes RTL, synthesized netlist, and gate-level designs to identify leakage, measure its severity, and pinpoint the signals and modules responsible. By providing actionable root-cause analysis, teams can validate countermeasures, compare implementation options, detect leakage introduced during synthesis and optimization, and reduce post-silicon security risk.

  • Detect side-channel leakage before tape-out (pre-silicon) when design modifications are still practical and cost-effective.
  • Complement traditional post-silicon testing by identifying vulnerabilities earlier in the development cycle.
  • Automatically pinpoint the root cause of leakage down to specific signals, gates, and modules.
  • Identify which signals leak, how much they leak, and when leakage occurs using quantitative leakage metrics.
  • Validate the effectiveness of side-channel countermeasures and compare alternative implementations.
  • Analyze RTL, synthesized netlist, and gate-level designs throughout the development flow.
  • Detect leakage introduced during synthesis and optimization as designs evolve.
  • Support continuous security validation and regression testing.
  • Enable design and verification teams, not only security specialists, to identify and address security issues.
  • Generate customizable reports and visualizations using Python scripts for internal workflows, reviews, and certification activities.
  • Reduce post-silicon testing effort, certification risk, and costly redesigns after fabrication.
  • Evaluate security trade-offs alongside performance, power, and area considerations.