Ray-Spect: Local Parametric Degradation for Secure Designs: An application to X-Ray Fault Injection

In this paper, we introduce Ray-Spect (X-Ray-Spectre), a tool for simulating fault injection using parametric degradation of MOSFETs, which is typical of X-ray irradiation. The proposed tool is designed to enable the evaluation of the recently established semi-permanent fault model, where stuck-at faults can be induced reversibly. The tool is Python-based and utilizes a parametric injection method into the compact model: it is therefore capable of generating Spectre netlists with custom parameters based on a input description. It is generic and extendable: other types of netlists formats (such as HSPICE) can be easily implemented. Overall, the proposed tool provides a valuable resource to evaluate both the sensitivity of a secure design against fault attacks, and the effects of local ionizing radiation with large flexibility and at a low level of abstraction.