On-the-Fly Evaluation of FPGA-Based True Random Number Generator

Renaud Santoro (1) , Olivier Sentieys (1) , Sébastien Roy (2)

1 CAIRN - Energy Efficient Computing ArchItectures with Embedded Reconfigurable Resources
2 LRTS - Laboratoire de Radiocommunications et de Traitement du Signal

Many embedded security chips require a high- quality digital True Random Number Generator (TRNG). Re- cently, some new TRNGs have been proposed in the literature, innovating by their new architectures. Moreover, some of them don't need to use the post-processing unit usually required in TRNG constructions. As a result, the TRNG data rate is enhanced and the produced random bits only depend on the noise source and its sampling. However, selecting a TRNG can be a del- icate problem. In a hardware context (e.g. Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) implementation), the design area and power consumption are important criterions. To the best of our knowledge, no effective comparison of several TRNGs appears in the literature. This paper evaluates the randomness behavior, the area and the power consumption of the latest TRNGs. These investigations are realized into real conditions, by implementing the TRNGs into FPGA circuits.

Domains: Cryptography and Security [cs.CR]; Micro and nanotechnologies/Microelectronics

Renaud Santoro, Olivier Sentieys, Sébastien Roy. On-the-Fly Evaluation of FPGA-Based True Random Number Generator. IEEE Computer Society Annual Symposium on VLSI, ISVLSI'09, May 2009, Tampa, Florida, United States. ⟨10.1109/ISVLSI.2009.33⟩. ⟨inria-00445943⟩