FPGA-based key generator for the niederreiter cryptosystem using binary goppa codes

Abstract

This paper presents a post-quantum secure, efficient, and tunable FPGA implementation of the key-generation algorithm for the Niederreiter cryptosystem using binary Goppa codes. Our key-generator implementation requires as few as 896,052 cycles to produce both public and private portions of a key, and can achieve an estimated frequency Fmax of over 240 MHz when synthesized for Stratix V FPGAs. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first hardware-based implementation that works with parameters equivalent to, or exceeding, the recommended 128-bit “post-quantum security” level. The key generator can produce a key pair for parameters m=13, t=119, and n=6960 in only 3.7 ms when no systemization failure occurs, and in 3.5 · 3.7 ms on average. To achieve such performance, we implemented an optimized and parameterized Gaussian systemizer for matrix systemization, which works for any large-sized matrix over any binary field GF(2m). Our work also presents an FPGA-based implementation of the Gao-Mateer additive FFT, which only takes about 1000 clock cycles to finish the evaluation of a degree-119 polynomial at 213 data points. The Verilog HDL code of our key generator is parameterized and partly code-generated using Python and Sage. It can be synthesized for different parameters, not just the ones shown in this paper. We tested the design using a Sage reference implementation, iVerilog simulation, and on real FPGA hardware.