Using Run-Time Reverse-Engineering to Optimize DRAM Refresh


Abstract: "The overhead of DRAM refresh is increasing with each density generation. To help offset some of this overhead, JEDEC designed the modern Auto-Refresh command with a highly optimized architecture internal to the DRAM---an architecture that violates the timing rules external controllers must observe and obey during normal operation. Numerous refresh-reduction schemes manually refresh ... » read more

Defending Against Reverse Engineering


Most of us are familiar with the term “reverse engineering.” We generally know that it is used to extract data or designs from chips, but exactly how is pretty much a mystery. Today, chip security has very broad implications. The landscape of tomorrow will be cluttered with devices that are microprocessor-controlled, including some that are autonomous. Numbers vary, but the current esti... » read more

White Hat Hacking


At first glance, the words “reverse engineering” (RE) might conjure up a couple of nefarious individuals with table full of tools, meters, and the like, in some basement trying to figure out how to disassemble some sort of electronic device. The image is wrong, however. More likely, today’s RE work will be found in a clandestine, well-funded uber-laboratory in an up-and-coming third-wo... » read more

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