Intellectual property security: A challenge for embedded systems developers
Sachin Gupta, Cypress Semiconductor
embeddd.com (April 28, 2013)
A company’s success - and its future - depends on the creation and successful defense of intellectual property (IP), which is generally defined as "creations of the mind for which exclusive rights are recognized.” IP is the outcome of innovation and work done by an organization/person and gives a company's products an edge over competitors.
For an organization that manufactures embedded systems, IP can be:
- Firmware implementation of a system
- Hardware implementation; i.e., signal chains or output control using innovative methods that differentiate the product from others
- Any innovative method to solve a particular problem in the system
An embedded system implementation that uses the minimum possible hardware resources is one example. This reduces the manufacturing cost of the product, in turn making it easy to sell in a competitive market.
IP security is a major challenge for any company. Each product is created only after a significant amount of R&D and innovation. After releasing the product to the market, a significant concern for an embedded system manufacturer is reverse engineering, a bitter reality in today’s market. It can significantly impact the product revenue if a competitor can hack your IP and copy your design.
When it comes to IP security in embedded systems, the first thing that comes to mind is the firmware that goes along with the microcontroller/microprocessor. Some system designers do not think beyond firmware to consider hardware, which is also at risk for design theft.
To read the full article, click here
Related Semiconductor IP
- USB 4.0 V2 PHY - 4TX/2RX, TSMC N3P , North/South Poly Orientation
- FH-OFDM Modem
- NFC wireless interface supporting ISO14443 A and B with EEPROM on SMIC 180nm
- PQC CRYSTALS core for accelerating NIST FIPS 202 FIPS 203 and FIPS 204
- USB Full Speed Transceiver
Related White Papers
- A Security Tagging Scheme for ASIC Designs and Intellectual Property Cores
- Intellectual property adolescence
- Designers find tools, intellectual property wanting
- Special Report: Intellectual Property
Latest White Papers
- FastPath: A Hybrid Approach for Efficient Hardware Security Verification
- Automotive IP-Cores: Evolution and Future Perspectives
- TROJAN-GUARD: Hardware Trojans Detection Using GNN in RTL Designs
- How a Standardized Approach Can Accelerate Development of Safety and Security in Automotive Imaging Systems
- SV-LLM: An Agentic Approach for SoC Security Verification using Large Language Models