A Self-Organising Map Based Algorithm for Analysis of ICmetrics Features

ICmetrics is a new approach that exploits the characteristic and behaviour of an embedded system to obtain a collection of properties and features, which aims to uniquely identify and secure an embedded system based on its own behavioural identity. In this paper, an algorithm based on a self-organising map (SOM) neural network is proposed to extract and analyse the features derived from a processor's performance profile (i.e. average cycles per instruction (CPI)), where the extracted features are used to help finding the main behaviours of the system. The proposed algorithm has been tested with different programs selected from the MiBench benchmark suite, and the results achieved show that it can successfully segment each program into different main phases based on the unique extracted features, which confirms its utility for the ICmetrics technology.