Data detection mitigation in printed circuit boards

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11244079-B2
Application number	US-201916574822-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 18, 2019
Priority date	Sep 18, 2019
Publication date	Feb 8, 2022
Grant date	Feb 8, 2022

Abstract

Provided is a method for masking a sensitive signal by injecting noise into planes of a printed circuit board (PCB). The method comprises detecting, by a secondary integrated circuit (IC), a noise signal on a shared plane of a PCB that includes the secondary IC. The noise signal may be analyzed to determine the characteristics of the noise signal. A masking signal may be generated based on the characteristics. The masking signal may then be injected onto the shared plane.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
detecting, by a secondary integrated circuit (IC), a noise signal on a shared plane of a printed circuit board (PCB) that includes the secondary IC;
analyzing the noise signal to determine characteristics of the noise signal;
generating a masking signal based on the characteristics; and
injecting the masking signal onto the shared plane.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein analyzing the noise signal includes:
converting the noise signal into a digital signal; and
performing a Fourier transform on the digital signal to decompose the noise signal into its constituent components.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the characteristics of the noise signal include a frequency of the noise signal, one or more amplitudes of the noise signal, and a rise and fall time of the noise signal.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein generating the masking signal comprises:
generating a random bit pattern; and
generating a digital masking signal that encodes the random bit pattern, wherein the digital masking signal has a similar frequency, amplitude, and rise and fall time as the noise signal.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein generating the masking signal further comprises:
converting the digital masking signal into an analog signal using a digital to analog converter.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the shared plane is selected from the group consisting of a power plane and a ground plane.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the PCB includes two or more shared planes,
the detecting the noise signal on the shared plane includes detecting a first noise signal on a first shared plane and a second noise signal on a second shared plane, the first and second noise signals being different,
the analyzing the noise signal includes determining a first set of characteristics of the first noise signal and a second set of characteristics of the second noise signal,
generating the masking signal based on the characteristics includes generating a first masking signal based on the first set of characteristics and generating a second masking signal based onto the second set of characteristics, and
injecting the masking signal onto the shared plane includes injecting the first masking signal on the first shared plane and injecting the second masking signal onto the second shared plane.

8. A system comprising:
a printed circuit board (PCB) having one or more shared planes;
a first integrated circuit (IC) embedded on the PCB and electrically coupled to the one or more shared planes, the first IC being configured to process sensitive data; and
a second IC embedded on the PCB and electrically coupled to the one or more shared planes, wherein the second IC is configured to perform a method comprising:
detecting a first noise signal, generated by the first IC, on a first shared plane of the one or more shared planes;
analyzing the first noise signal to determine characteristics of the first noise signal;
generating a first masking signal based on the characteristics of the first noise signal; and
injecting the first masking signal onto the first shared plane.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the second IC includes an analog to digital converter (ADC) and a digital signal processor (DSP), and wherein analyzing the first noise signal includes:
converting the first noise signal into a digital signal using the ADC; and
performing, by the DSP, a Fourier transform on the digital signal to decompose the first noise signal into its constituent components.

10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the characteristics of the first noise signal include a frequency of the first noise signal, one or more amplitudes of the first noise signal, and a rise and fall time of the first noise signal.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein generating the first masking signal comprises:
generating a random bit pattern; and
generating a digital masking signal that encodes the random bit pattern, wherein the digital masking signal has a similar frequency, amplitude, and rise and fall time as the first noise signal.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the second IC includes a digital to analog converter (DAC), and wherein generating the first masking signal further comprises:
converting, using the DAC, the digital masking signal into an analog signal.

13. The system of claim 8 , wherein the first shared plane is selected from the group consisting of a power plane and a ground plane.

14. The system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more shared planes further includes a second shared plane, and wherein the method further comprises:
detecting a second noise signal on the second shared plane, the second noise signal being different than the first noise signal;
analyzing the second noise signal to determine a set of characteristics of the second noise signal,
generating a second masking signal based onto the set of characteristics of the second noise signal, and
injecting the second masking signal onto the second shared plane.

15. A computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by processor to cause the processor to perform a method comprising:
detecting a noise signal on a shared plane of a printed circuit board (PCB) that includes a first IC and a secondary IC;
analyzing the noise signal to determine characteristics of the noise signal;
generating a masking signal based on the characteristics; and
injecting the masking signal onto the shared plane.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein analyzing the noise signal includes:
converting the noise signal into a digital signal; and
performing a Fourier transform on the digital signal to decompose the noise signal into its constituent components.

17. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the characteristics of the noise signal include a frequency of the noise signal, one or more amplitudes of the noise signal, and a rise and fall time of the noise signal.

18. The computer program product of claim 17 , wherein generating the masking signal comprises:
generating a random bit pattern; and
generating a digital masking signal that encodes the random bit pattern, wherein the digital masking signal has a similar frequency, amplitude, and rise and fall time as the noise signal.

19. The computer program product of claim 18 , wherein generating the masking signal further comprises:
converting the digital masking signal into an analog signal using a digital to analog converter.

20. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein:
the PCB includes two or more shared planes,
the detecting the noise signal on the shared plane includes detecting a first noise signal on a first shared plane and a second noise signal on a second shared plane, the first and second noise signals being different,
the analyzing the noise signal includes determining a first set of characteristics of the first noise signal and a second set of characteristics of the second noise signal,
generating the masking signal based on the characteristics includes generating a first masking signal based on the first set of characteristics and generating a second masking signal based onto the second set of characteristics, and
injecting the masking signal onto the shared plane includes injecting the first masking signal on the first shared plane and injecting the second masking signal onto the second shared plane.

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Cocchini Matteo
• Dragone Silvio
• Oggioni Stefano Sergio
• Busby James
• Santiago-Fernandez William

Classifications

• H05K2201/10204

  Dummy component, dummy PCB or template, e.g. for monitoring, controlling of processes, comparing, scanning · CPC title

• H05K1/0216

  Reduction of cross-talk, noise or electromagnetic interference (grounding H05K1/0215) · CPC title

• G06F21/755 Primary

  with measures against power attack · CPC title

• H04L9/0656

  Pseudorandom key sequence combined element-for-element with data sequence, e.g. one-time-pad [OTP] or Vernam's cipher · CPC title

• H05K1/0275

  Security details, e.g. tampering prevention or detection · CPC title