US Patent 10107855 Electromagnetic verification of integrated circuits

Apparatuses, systems, and methods for detecting changes to an IC are disclosed. In an example implementation, an apparatus includes an electromagnetic (EM) sensor. A high-resolution analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is configured to quantize a segment of the EM signal of an IC measured by the EM sensor. The quantized segment of the EM signal is unique to process-voltage-temperature (PVT) characteristics exhibited by the IC. The apparatus also includes a processing circuit configured to prompt the high-resolution ADC, via a control signal, to produce the quantized segment of the EM signal. The processing circuit determines a first signature from the quantized segment and retrieves a baseline signature corresponding to the IC from a data storage circuit. In response to the first signature being different from the baseline signature, the processing circuit indicates that a change to the IC is detected.