Implementation of an Elliptic Curve Based Message Authentication Code for Constrained Environments

Abstract

This paper presents the hardware implementation of a new method for message authentication based on elliptic curves. The proposed method makes use of the elliptic curve point multiplication unit already available in the system as a part of key exchange. The point multiplication unit is time shared for generating the authentication code resulting in reduced hardware complexity. Hence it is suitable for applications with limited resources like wireless sensor networks and smart grid. The security of the proposed MAC is vested in Elliptic Curve Discrete Logarithm Problem(ECDLP). © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014.