Product Overview

This board has been designed with side channel attack measurements in mind.
It can provide 3 different voltages (3V3, 1V8 or 1V2) to your target and outputs the target current consumption to an SMA connector.
A potentiometer allows you to vary the inline resistance, another one allows you to change the overall current to voltage gain.

Frequency Response

The platform frequency response for different shunt and gain potentiometers positions can be seen below.
From DC to 50MHz:

From DC to 1GHz:


As you can see, high frequencies get amplified the most, which will actually be beneficial in an attack measurement setup as wires attenuate high frequencies.
The above measurements were made using 20dB of external attenuation and a 45R series resistance, so the maximum current-voltage gain the platform can offer is 54dB or 500x.

Power Supply Setup

In side channel attacks, noise is your enemy.
The whole board therefore requires 4x 18650 cells, and includes battery protection circuitry.

Measurement Setup Advices

When performing side channel attacks the following rules should be followed:
- eliminate any wires you may have, or keep them as short as possible
- keep in mind that any connection may bring noise to your output
- perform an FFT of your output with the platform off
- make sure your output isn't saturated
- make sure your trigger is repeatable