Highlights

Inspector SC2 Pre-Silicon Side-Channel Analysis helps semiconductor teams detect and analyze side-channel leakage before tape-out, when design changes are faster, less costly, and easier to implement.

• Using simulation test vectors, VCD activity files, and optional power models generated through existing electronic design automation (EDA) workflows, Inspector analyzes RTL, synthesized netlist, and gate-level designs to identify leakage, measure its severity, and pinpoint the signals and modules responsible. By providing actionable root-cause analysis, teams can validate countermeasures, compare implementation options, detect leakage introduced during synthesis and optimization, and reduce post-silicon security risk.
• Detect side-channel leakage before tape-out (pre-silicon) when design modifications are still practical and cost-effective.
• Complement traditional post-silicon testing by identifying vulnerabilities earlier in the development cycle.
• Automatically pinpoint the root cause of leakage down to specific signals, gates, and modules.
• Identify which signals leak, how much they leak, and when leakage occurs using quantitative leakage metrics.
• Validate the effectiveness of side-channel countermeasures and compare alternative implementations.
• Analyze RTL, synthesized netlist, and gate-level designs throughout the development flow.
• Detect leakage introduced during synthesis and optimization as designs evolve.
• Support continuous security validation and regression testing.
• Enable design and verification teams, not only security specialists, to identify and address security issues.
• Generate customizable reports and visualizations using Python scripts for internal workflows, reviews, and certification activities.
• Reduce post-silicon testing effort, certification risk, and costly redesigns after fabrication.
• Evaluate security trade-offs alongside performance, power, and area considerations.