Trustworthy Integrated Circuits: From Safety to Security and Beyond

Abstract

The trustworthiness of integrated circuits (ICs) has become increasingly important due to the ubiquitousness of ICs and the insecure nature of the current semiconductor supply chain. Throughout development and operation, ICs are exposed to several risks that can arise from malicious actors or harsh operational conditions. Therefore, the question arises: Does the trustworthiness of an IC indicate its security only or other attributes beyond? Various disciplines may have a different understanding of what IC trustworthiness means. Thus, a compact and unified definition that provides its main overarching attributes is required. Such a definition would lead to a greater readiness to deal with emerging challenges. To define trustworthiness at IC level, we identify the minimum number of attributes required to cover the various perspectives of development, focusing on correct functionality, reliability, security, and functional safety. Subsequently, we review and provide a structured description of identified critical pre-silicion issues that can negatively impact the defined attributes. Besides academic literature, standards, and industry-relevant publications, we consider industry experts’ opinions to achieve the maximum possible coverage of our topical review. We also provide an overview and analysis of several existing evaluation methodologies of the respective trustworthiness attributes, as evaluating the discussed issues is another important aspect for achieving trustworthiness. Our findings highlight the need for a comprehensive and universally applicable framework to evaluate the trustworthiness of ICs.

Keywords

• EDA
• integrated circuit design
• reliability
• safety
• security
• trustworthiness