- Op-amps as sense amplifiers in side-channel rigs. Every power-trace capture front-end uses high-CMRR, low-noise instrumentation amps. The choice of part (its noise floor, its CMRR, its bandwidth) sets the attacker's measurement floor.
- Sigma-delta ADCs for ultra-high-SNR side-channel capture. Modern attack rigs use 24-bit sigma-deltas to capture clean traces through measurement noise. The same architecture defends sensitive sensors against jamming.
- DAC for fault injection. Programmable arbitrary-waveform DACs (driven by FPGAs) let attackers craft glitches with picosecond-resolution timing and millivolt amplitude. Faster DACs allow more precise glitches.
- PLL-based clock attacks. Disrupting a PLL's reference clock can push the output into a wrong frequency briefly. Logic clocked at the wrong rate races and may skip security checks. Defenders include glitch detectors that monitor the clock frequency continuously.
- Voltage-reference attacks. If an attacker glitches the reference of an ADC during a sensitive measurement, they can spoof readings; defenders compare a primary reference to a backup reference and zeroize keys on disagreement.
- Comparator hysteresis as a defense. Tamper detectors built around Schmitt triggers reject noise-bouncing without false alarms while still catching real intrusions.
- Op-amp slew rate and glitch resilience. Choosing precision op-amps with slew rates fast enough to ride through expected supply transients is part of glitch-resistant design.
section 11 of 132 min read