The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $200,000 Project Grant under CFDA Number 47.079 - Office of International Science and Engineering to the University of Florida (UF) Division of Sponsored Research. The 3-year grant, effective June 1, 2024, supports a collaborative research project between UF and an Indian research team to develop secure integrated circuit (IC) design methodologies against electromagnetic (EM) and power side-channel attacks.
The key products and services to be delivered under this award include:
Modeling and analysis of EM and power side-channels for real-world devices
Design and evaluation of on-chip side-channel countermeasures, including a novel split-pole CMOS standard cell library and side-channel aware routing techniques
Development of a configurable, design-tool-friendly current-domain signature attenuation circuit for encryption cores
Exploration of design-tool-aware and timing-aware clock path optimization to reduce EM and power side-channels
Analysis of metal layer material properties to enhance side-channel resistance at both the IC and 3D package levels
This collaborative project aims to provide comprehensive security solutions against power and EM side-channel attacks, which pose significant threats to the confidentiality of personal, commercial, and military data. The research outcomes are expected to benefit the electronics industry through security-aware design practices, pre-silicon side-channel vulnerability analysis, and the development of commercial design tools that can quantify hardware security.