IPlock: An Effective Hybrid Encryption for Neuromorphic Systems IP Core Protection

Recent advances in resistive synaptic devices have enabled the emergence of brain-inspired smart chips. These chips can execute complex cognitive tasks in digital signal processing precisely and efficiently using an efficient neuromorphic system. The neuromorphic synapses used in such chips, however, are different from the traditional integrated circuit architectures, thereby weakening their resistance to malicious transformation and intellectual property (IP) counterfeiting. Accordingly, in this paper, we propose an effective hybrid encryption methodology for IP core protection in neuromorphic computing systems, in-corporating elliptic curve cryptography and SM4 simultaneously. Experimental results confirm that the proposed method can implement real-time encryption of any number of crossbar arrays in neuromorphic systems accurately, while reducing the time overhead by 14.40%–26.08%.