Recommendations and illustrations for the evaluation of photonic random number generators
The never-ending quest to improve the security of digital information combined with recent improvements in hardware technology has caused the field of random number generation to undergo a fundamental shift from relying solely on pseudo-random algorithms to employing optical entropy sources. Despite...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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AIP Publishing LLC
2017-09-01
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| Series: | APL Photonics |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.5000056 |
| _version_ | 1818066181110628352 |
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| author | Joseph D. Hart Yuta Terashima Atsushi Uchida Gerald B. Baumgartner Thomas E. Murphy Rajarshi Roy |
| author_facet | Joseph D. Hart Yuta Terashima Atsushi Uchida Gerald B. Baumgartner Thomas E. Murphy Rajarshi Roy |
| author_sort | Joseph D. Hart |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The never-ending quest to improve the security of digital information combined with recent improvements in hardware technology has caused the field of random number generation to undergo a fundamental shift from relying solely on pseudo-random algorithms to employing optical entropy sources. Despite these significant advances on the hardware side, commonly used statistical measures and evaluation practices remain ill-suited to understand or quantify the optical entropy that underlies physical random number generation. We review the state of the art in the evaluation of optical random number generation and recommend a new paradigm: quantifying entropy generation and understanding the physical limits of the optical sources of randomness. In order to do this, we advocate for the separation of the physical entropy source from deterministic post-processing in the evaluation of random number generators and for the explicit consideration of the impact of the measurement and digitization process on the rate of entropy production. We present the Cohen-Procaccia estimate of the entropy rate h(𝜖,τ) as one way to do this. In order to provide an illustration of our recommendations, we apply the Cohen-Procaccia estimate as well as the entropy estimates from the new NIST draft standards for physical random number generators to evaluate and compare three common optical entropy sources: single photon time-of-arrival detection, chaotic lasers, and amplified spontaneous emission. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T15:03:42Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cdc2adfee70b4c82b89f28b99776df3c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2378-0967 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T15:03:42Z |
| publishDate | 2017-09-01 |
| publisher | AIP Publishing LLC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | APL Photonics |
| spelling | doaj.art-cdc2adfee70b4c82b89f28b99776df3c2022-12-22T01:44:06ZengAIP Publishing LLCAPL Photonics2378-09672017-09-0129090901090901-2210.1063/1.5000056001709APPRecommendations and illustrations for the evaluation of photonic random number generatorsJoseph D. Hart0Yuta Terashima1Atsushi Uchida2Gerald B. Baumgartner3Thomas E. Murphy4Rajarshi Roy5Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USADepartment of Information and Computer Sciences, Saitama University, Saitama, JapanDepartment of Information and Computer Sciences, Saitama University, Saitama, JapanLaboratory for Telecommunication Sciences, College Park, Maryland 20740, USAInstitute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USAInstitute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, USAThe never-ending quest to improve the security of digital information combined with recent improvements in hardware technology has caused the field of random number generation to undergo a fundamental shift from relying solely on pseudo-random algorithms to employing optical entropy sources. Despite these significant advances on the hardware side, commonly used statistical measures and evaluation practices remain ill-suited to understand or quantify the optical entropy that underlies physical random number generation. We review the state of the art in the evaluation of optical random number generation and recommend a new paradigm: quantifying entropy generation and understanding the physical limits of the optical sources of randomness. In order to do this, we advocate for the separation of the physical entropy source from deterministic post-processing in the evaluation of random number generators and for the explicit consideration of the impact of the measurement and digitization process on the rate of entropy production. We present the Cohen-Procaccia estimate of the entropy rate h(𝜖,τ) as one way to do this. In order to provide an illustration of our recommendations, we apply the Cohen-Procaccia estimate as well as the entropy estimates from the new NIST draft standards for physical random number generators to evaluate and compare three common optical entropy sources: single photon time-of-arrival detection, chaotic lasers, and amplified spontaneous emission.http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.5000056 |
| spellingShingle | Joseph D. Hart Yuta Terashima Atsushi Uchida Gerald B. Baumgartner Thomas E. Murphy Rajarshi Roy Recommendations and illustrations for the evaluation of photonic random number generators APL Photonics |
| title | Recommendations and illustrations for the evaluation of photonic random number generators |
| title_full | Recommendations and illustrations for the evaluation of photonic random number generators |
| title_fullStr | Recommendations and illustrations for the evaluation of photonic random number generators |
| title_full_unstemmed | Recommendations and illustrations for the evaluation of photonic random number generators |
| title_short | Recommendations and illustrations for the evaluation of photonic random number generators |
| title_sort | recommendations and illustrations for the evaluation of photonic random number generators |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.5000056 |
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