Software Solutions for True Random Number Generation

The ability to encrypt digital information within our Nation’s modern and legacy data/communications systems is crucial for protecting national security. Ideally, the development of new cryptographic protocols for military applications would be implemented using software such that they can be easily integrated into existing hardware and fielded systems. As an example, software-based true random number generators (TRNGs) have been demonstrated by Intel for use in commercial/private cryptographic protocols, which further increases the likelihood that software solutions will become common practice in military systems and settings. In support of creating such a technology, IERUS Technologies (IERUS) and Southern Research (SR) propose to continue the development of a new class of TRNG that realizes a software-defined entropy source backed by theory in Field-Programmable-Gate-Arrays (FPGAs). This added layer of theory also aligns this technology with the recommendations by NIST to support the entropy source and bit rates.