Redefining Tradition: An Active Watermarking Approach for IP Protection in SoCs
Zahin Ibnat, Mridha Md Mashahedur Rahman, M. Sazadur Rahman, Jingbo Zhou, Farimah Farahmandi · IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems · 2025
Globalization of the System-on-Chip (SoC) supply chain has resulted in increased intellectual property (IP) piracy, illegal reuse, and tampering by malicious actors. In response to these challenges, IP watermarking presents itself as a promising solution to protect against these risks; however, traditional methods rely heavily on labor-intensive manual tests by verification engineers and fail to account for the potential threat posed by malicious SoC design houses. To overcome these challenges and improve the efficiency of the watermark verification process while safeguarding against possible attacks, we developedActiWateas an innovative watermarking approach that not only provides proof of authorship but also prevents unauthorized usage of an IP. Using an automatic self-verification technique, the watermark establishes communication with various peripherals within the SoC. The versatility and effectiveness ofActiWatehave been proven through extensive experiments on multiple SoCs with diverse components and peripherals, including the testing of watermarking and the verification of various IPs. Moreover, we discuss the inclusion of this multiple serialized verification in more case studies and results, as well as analyzing prominent security threats, including reverse engineering attacks.