Method to reduce power in active shield circuits that use complementary traces
First Claim
1. An integrated circuit, comprising:
- a first security trace and a second security trace in the integrated circuit;
a driver to couple a first voltage level to a first end of the first security trace and a second voltage level to a first end of the second security trace, the first voltage level being different from the second voltage level; and
a first switch to selectively couple the driver to the first end of the first security trace and the first end of the second security trace.
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Abstract
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for securing an integrated circuit. A pair of conductive security traces are arranged on an integrated circuit. Driver means provide complementary HIGH and LOW voltage levels to a respective first end of each of the conductive security traces. A first switch means temporarily interrupts the driver means and isolates the pair of conductive security traces. A second switch means temporarily connects the first ends of the isolated pair of conductive security traces to each other so that both conductive traces are at the same voltage. The voltage at the first end of one of the security traces at the LOW voltage is then boosted to one-half of the HIGH voltage level (VDD/2) by the HIGH (VDD) voltage level at the first end of the other security trace. First and second comparators are provided, each of which compares voltages on their respective first ends of the pair of conductive security traces with voltages on a respective second end of the pair of conductive security traces. Means are provided for logically combining the output signals of the first and second comparators.
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Citations
23 Claims
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1. An integrated circuit, comprising:
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a first security trace and a second security trace in the integrated circuit; a driver to couple a first voltage level to a first end of the first security trace and a second voltage level to a first end of the second security trace, the first voltage level being different from the second voltage level; and a first switch to selectively couple the driver to the first end of the first security trace and the first end of the second security trace. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An integrated circuit comprising:
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a first security trace and a second security trace that are part of the integrated circuit; a first driver circuit to generate a first output signal to be coupled to a first end of the first security trace; a second driver circuit to generate a second output signal to be coupled to a first end of the second security trace, the second output signal being different from the first output signal; and a first switching circuit to couple the first security trace to the second security trace to permit charge transfer between the first security trace and the second security trace. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method comprising:
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coupling a first signal to a first end of a first security trace; coupling a second signal to a first end of a second security trace, the second signal being different from the first signal; and decoupling the first security trace from the first signal and decoupling the second security trace from the second signal. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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20. A method comprising:
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coupling a first signal to a first end of a first security trace; coupling a second signal to a first end of a second security trace, the second signal being different from the first signal; and coupling the first security trace to the second security trace to allow charge to transfer between the first security trace and the second security trace. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23)
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Specification