Paper 2011/637

Random Number Generation Based on Oscillatory Metastability in Ring Circuits

Laszlo Hars

Abstract

Random number generator designs are discussed, which utilize oscillatory metastability, induced by switching between two stable states of ring-connected digital gates. For a short time after the switch-over the circuits behave quite randomly, influenced by the circuit noise. We provide simple programs, which simulate the fundamental behavior of our circuits. We also present a mathematical model and theoretical explanations of the underlying physical phenomena, the random phase drift and pulse decay. These also illuminate the principles of other recently published random number generators. The feasibility of the designs was confirmed by FPGA prototypes. These random number generators are small, fast and built of standard logic gates. The simplest example contains just one XOR gate as the source of randomness.

Metadata
Available format(s)
PDF
Category
Applications
Publication info
Published elsewhere. Unknown where it was published
Keywords
Electronic random number generatorsRing oscillatorsMetastabilityRandom walk
Contact author(s)
Laszlo @ hars us
History
2011-11-26: received
Short URL
https://ia.cr/2011/637
License
Creative Commons Attribution
CC BY

BibTeX

@misc{cryptoeprint:2011/637,
      author = {Laszlo Hars},
      title = {Random Number Generation Based on Oscillatory Metastability in Ring Circuits},
      howpublished = {Cryptology {ePrint} Archive, Paper 2011/637},
      year = {2011},
      url = {https://eprint.iacr.org/2011/637}
}
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