Secure semiconductor chip and operating method thereof
AssigneeIndustry-University Cooperation Foundation Hanyang University
InventorsHyoung Ho Ko, Byong Deok Choi
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A semiconductor chip may comprise: a processor for processing data; a shield which includes a metal line and is arranged over an upper portion of the processor; a detection unit for comparing a reference signal with an output signal, which is outputted when the reference signal passes through the shield, so as to detect whether there has been a wiring change within the shield or not; and a controller for configuring the routing topology of the metal line to be in a first state, and changing the routing topology from the first state to a second state.
Claims8
A semiconductor chip comprising:
- a processor configured to process data;
- a shield arranged over an upper portion of the processor, the shield comprising a metal line;
- a ring oscillator block configured to pass an output of a first ring oscillator through a first area of the shield to return the output of the first ring oscillator to an input of the first ring oscillator and configured to pass an output of a second ring oscillator through a second area of the shield to return the output of the second ring oscillator to an input of the second ring oscillator, the second ring oscillator synchronized with the first ring oscillator;
- and
- a detection unit configured to detect whether or not there is an electrical probing of the shield by comparing oscillation phases of the first ring oscillator and the second ring oscillator, wherein a difference in the oscillation phases of the first ring oscillator and the second ring oscillator indicates the electrical probing of the shield.
A semiconductor chip comprising:
- a processor configured to process data;
- a shield arranged over an upper portion of the processor, the shield comprising a metal line;
- a detection unit configured to detect whether or not there is at least one of a wiring change in the shield and an electrical probing of the shield;
- and
- a controller configured to select a mode from among a first mode for detecting a wiring change in the shield and a second mode for detecting an electrical probing of the shield and transfer a signal corresponding to the selected mode to the detection unit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.