Implementing efficient 384-bit NIST Elliptic Curve over prime fields on an ARM946E

Due to the need for increased security, cryptography has become a necessity in many embedded applications. It has become an integral portion of embedded applications that include hand held radios used by law enforcement, hand held computers, smart cards, and other industries wanting the ability to maintain and transfer sensitive data. Elliptic Curve Cryptosystems (ECCs) have become the cryptography of choice because of the reduced overhead required in comparison to other cryptosystems to achieve the same level of security. Elliptic curve algorithms, used in elliptic curve cryptosystems, are a series of hundreds to thousands of finite arithmetic operations. A great deal of research has been performed to determine the most efficient algorithms to implement elliptic curve arithmetic, particularly the use of large processors that are very efficient at performing multi-precision arithmetic. This paper focuses on implementing this complex arithmetic in an embedded system with small, low power processors with, potentially limited, multi-precision arithmetic capability.