An energy-efficient IEEE 1363-based reconfigurable public-key cryptography processor

For a specific domain of operation (e.g., public key cryptography), it is possible to provide the required level of algorithm agility by using a limited amount of reconfigurability which avoids the overhead associated with generic programmable logic. The resulting Domain Specific Reconfigurable Cryptographic Processor (DSRCP) represents a prototype implementation for the domain of public key cryptography. The processor ISA is based upon the recently adopted IEEE 1363-2000 Public Key Cryptography Standard. The DSRCP is the first reported hardware-based solution that performs conventional arithmetic, modular integer arithmetic, binary Galois Field arithmetic (i.e., GF(2/sup /spl alpha//)), and elliptic curve arithmetic over GF(2/sup /spl alpha//). In addition, it does so in an energy efficient manner.