A symmetric cryptography based on extended cellular automata

Based on the basic theory of cellular automata (CA), using genetic algorithm to find the rules of CA, one-dimensional extended non-uniform CA is constructed to generate high quality random bit numbers. A stringent test of randomness is applied to the bit numbers. The results show that our extended CA generator outperforms other generators such as shift register generator, congruential generator and lagged Fibonacci generator. This generator can meet the requirement of the security for cryptographic modules and provide a new method to generate pseudo-random numbers in cryptography. An example of image encryption is also provided for illustration.