An integrated circuit comprising a module can be the target of attacks aimed at recovering secure information. In particular, the attacks may be by analysis of power consumption or SPA.
In operation, an integrated circuit consumes more or less power depending on the operations that it is carrying out. SPA attack comprises the analysis of these variations in power consumption to determine the operations being carried out and/or their occurrences.
In secured applications, it is therefore recommended to smooth the power consumption seen from the power supply. This is done in such a manner to make it more difficult for a potential attacker to determine the activity of the various components of the circuit by SPA attacks.
There is circuitry to protect against SPA attacks, such as shunt regulators, for example. However, circuitry with shunt regulators is not suitable for smoothing the current consumed by several modules.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds