Secure and Efficient Architectures for Single Exponentiations in Finite Fields Suitable for High-Performance Cryptographic Applications

High performance implementation of single exponentiation in finite field is crucial for cryptographic applications such as those used in embedded systems and industrial networks. In this paper, we propose a new architecture for performing single exponentiations in binary finite fields. For the first time, we employ a digit-level hybrid-double multiplier proposed by Azarderakhsh and Reyhani-Masoleh for computing exponentiations based on square-and-multiply scheme. In our structure, the computations for squaring and multiplication are uniform and independent of the Hamming weight of the exponent; considered to have built-in resistance against simple power analysis attacks. The presented structure reduces the latency of exponentiation in binary finite field considerably and thus can be utilized in applications exhibiting high-performance computations including sensitive and constrained ones in embedded systems used in industrial setups and networks.