Method for defeating reverse engineering of integrated circuits by optical means

Abstract

A method for an electronic device is provided for preventing reverse engineering by monitoring light emissions emitted from transistors and such electrically active devices in the electronic device. The method emits extraneous randomized light emissions in substantial close proximity to the transistors to hide a pattern of light emissions emitted from the transistors. As one feature, the device can include a source of randomized light emissions in substantial close proximity to the transistors to hide a pattern of the emitted light from the transistors in randomized light emissions emitted by the source. As a second feature, the device can emit the randomized light emissions by randomly delaying an electrical signal that is electrically coupled to the transistors and, in response to the randomly delayed electrical signal, the transistors randomly emitting light emissions thereby hiding a separate pattern of light emission emitted from the transistors.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.