Exploring the design-space for FPGA-based implementation of RSA

In this paper, we present two alternative architectures for implementing the Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) algorithm on reconfigurable hardware. Both architectures are innovative, especially with respect to the implementation of modular multiplication. As to the area vs time trade-off, the two solutions are at the extremes of the design-space, since one adopts a word serial approach, while the other has a fully parallel organization. Based on the analysis of these architectures for different values of the serialization factor, we explore the design-space for the field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based implementation of the RSA algorithm. We systematically analyze and compare the results of the two design processes with respect to two fundamental metrics, namely execution time and FPGA resource usage. We emphasize pros and cons and comment trade-offs of the two design alternatives. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.