Secure exchange of information in electronic design automation

Abstract

Information related to electronic design automation may be exchanged in a secure manner. Information deemed sensitive and otherwise worthy of protection may be secured by methods such as encryption, obfuscation and other security measures. The secured information may be processed without revealing at least some of the secured information. For instance, rule files related to integrated circuit manufacturability may be selectively annotated to indicate portions thereof deserving of protection. An encryption tool may be used to secure the information related to electronic design automation. An electronic design automation tool may then unlock and use the secured information without revealing the same. In one aspect, such access or secure use of the information may depend on one or more conditions being met (e.g., a time period or a number of uses or accesses). For instance, the tool may be a physical verification tool capable of verifying whether any of the one or more integrated circuit layouts may violate one or more of the secured rules.

1 . A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform a method of processing secured electronic design automation information, the method comprising:
 receiving the secured electronic design automation information, wherein the secured electronic design automation information comprises rules related to manufacture of integrated circuits, including rules regarding manufacturing constraints;   determining whether at least one condition is met; and   responsive to determining that the at least one condition has been met:
 accessing the secured electronic design automation information; and 
 processing at least some of the secured electronic design automation information without revealing at least some portion of the secured electronic design automation information. 
   
   
   
       2 . The method computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , the method further comprising receiving data related to the at least one condition along with the secured electronic design automation information. 
   
   
       3 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one condition comprises an expiration date and determining whether the at least one condition is met comprises comparing a current date with the expiration date. 
   
   
       4 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 3 , wherein the expiration date comprises one or more of a month data, a year data and a time of day data. 
   
   
       5 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one condition comprises a value corresponding to a maximum number of times the secured electronic design automation information can be accessed and determining whether the at least one condition is met comprises comparing a number value of a current access to the maximum number of times the secured electronic design automation information can be accessed. 
   
   
       6 . The method computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the at least one condition comprises a value corresponding to a maximum number of times the secured electronic design automation information can be accessed and determining whether the at least one condition is met comprises generating a call back request to a server computer requesting confirmation that the at least one condition has been met. 
   
   
       7 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein determining whether the at least one condition is met comprises applying different conditions for accessing different portions of the secured electronic design automation information. 
   
   
       8 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein determining whether the at least one condition is met comprises applying different conditions for different users. 
   
   
       9 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the method is performed by an electronic design automation tool running on the computer, and wherein the electronic design automation tool is a physical verification tool. 
   
   
       10 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , the method further comprising receiving information related to a key for accessing the secured electronic design automation information along with data related to the at least one condition. 
   
   
       11 . A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions for causing a computer to perform a method for secure exchange of rules related to manufacture of integrated circuits, the method comprising:
 receiving secured rules related to manufacture of integrated circuits, wherein the secured rules related to manufacture of integrated circuits are annotated to indicate they are secured, and wherein the secured rules related to manufacture of integrated circuits include rules regarding manufacturing constraints;   determining whether a current period is within a duration during which the secured rules related to manufacture of integrated circuits may be processed; and   responsive to determining that the current period is within the duration:
 unlocking the secured rules related to manufacture of integrated circuits; 
 receiving data related to one or more integrated circuit layouts; and 
 verifying whether the one or more integrated circuit layouts violate any of the secured rules related to manufacture of integrated circuits. 
   
   
   
       12 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the duration during which the secured rules related to manufacture of integrated circuits may be processed comprises an expiration date, wherein the expiration date comprises one or more of a month data, a year data and a time of day data. 
   
   
       13 . (canceled) 
   
   
       14 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the secured rules related to manufacture of integrated circuits is unlocked but not processed until determining that the current period is within the duration during which the secured rules related to manufacture of integrated circuits may be processed. 
   
   
       15 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the secured rules related to manufacture of integrated circuits is not unlocked until determining that the current period is within the duration during which the secured rules related to manufacture of integrated circuits may be processed. 
   
   
       16 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the duration during which the secured rules related to manufacture of integrated circuits may be processed is different for different portions of the secured rules related to manufacture of integrated circuits. 
   
   
       17 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the duration during which the secured rules related to manufacture of integrated circuits may be processed is different for different users. 
   
   
       18 . A system for secured exchange of electronic design automation information comprising an electronic design automation tool operational for:
 receiving a file comprising secured electronic design automation information, wherein the secured electronic design automation information comprises rules related to manufacture of integrated circuits, including rules regarding manufacturing constraints;   identifying the secured electronic design automation information within the file;   determining whether one or more conditions for accessing at least some portion of the secured electronic design automation information within the file have been met; and   responsive to determining that the one or more conditions have been met, accessing the at least some portion of the secured electronic design automation information to process the at least some portion of the secured electronic design automation information without revealing the at least some portion of the secured electronic design automation information.   
   
   
       19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein data related to the one or more conditions for accessing the at least some portion of the secured electronic design automation information is specified within the file comprising the secured electronic design automation information. 
   
   
       20 . (canceled) 
   
   
       21 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the determining whether the at least one condition is met comprises receiving a verification that the at least one condition has been met from a server computer over a network. 
   
   
       22 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 11 , further responsive to determining that the current period is within the duration:
 providing error reports indicating results of the verification without revealing at least some of the secured rules.