Method and semiconductor device for protecting a semiconductor integrated circuit from reverse engineering

摘要

A protection method is provided to make it difficult to reverse engineer operational information. The present invention provides a protection method for preventing reverse engineering, including: generating an expected value during normal operation; monitoring voltage waveforms at monitoring points of the semiconductor integrated circuit; comparing a measured value generated in the monitored voltage waveforms with the expected value; determining whether reverse engineering is taking place or not based on comparison results; and when reverse engineering is taking place, controlling the semiconductor integrated circuit to run in a protection mode, which different from its normal operation.