The development of random number generators (RNGs) using speckle patterns is pivotal for secure encryption key generation, drawing from the recent statistical properties identified in speckle-based imaging. Speckle-based RNG systems generate a sequence of random numbers through the unpredictable and reproducible nature of speckle patterns, ensuring a source of randomness that is independent of algorithms. However, to guarantee their effectiveness and reliability, these systems demand a meticulous and rigorous approach. In this study, we present a blood-inspired RNG system with a microfluidics device, designed to generate random numbers at a rate of 5.5 MHz and a high-speed of 1250 fps. This process is achieved by directing a laser beam through a volumetric scattering medium to procure speckle patterns. Additionally, designed microfluidic device requires only a minimal blood sample of 5 µl to capture these speckle patterns effectively. After implementing the two-pass tuple-output von Neumann debiasing algorithm to counteract statistical biases, we utilized the randomness statistical test suite from the National Institute of Standards and Technology for validation. The generated numbers successfully passed these tests, ensuring their randomness and unpredictability. Our blood-inspired RNG, utilizing whole blood, offers a pathway for affordable, high-output applications in fields like encryption, computer security, and data protection.
The development of random number generators (RNGs) using speckle patterns is pivotal for secure encryption key generation, drawing from the recent statistical properties identified in speckle-based imaging. Speckle-based RNG systems generate a sequence of random numbers through the unpredictable and reproducible nature of speckle patterns, ensuring a source of randomness that is independent of algorithms. However, to guarantee their effectiveness and reliability, these systems demand a meticulous and rigorous approach. In this study, we present a blood-inspired RNG system with a microfluidics device, designed to generate random numbers at a rate of 5.5 MHz and a high-speed of 1250 fps. This process is achieved by directing a laser beam through a volumetric scattering medium to procure speckle patterns. Additionally, designed microfluidic device requires only a minimal blood sample of 5 µl to capture these speckle patterns effectively. After implementing the two-pass tuple-output von Neumann debiasing algorithm to counteract statistical biases, we utilized the randomness statistical test suite from the National Institute of Standards and Technology for validation. The generated numbers successfully passed these tests, ensuring their randomness and unpredictability. Our blood-inspired RNG, utilizing whole blood, offers a pathway for affordable, high-output applications in fields like encryption, computer security, and data protection.
Random number generators (RNG) are fundamental to cryptographic systems, requiring high entropy, unpredictability, and resistance to cloning attacks. This work proposes RNG based on optical physical unclonable function (PUF) that uses random scattering of structured vortex beams through rough surface. The inherent disorder of the scattering medium with tunable beam parameters like vortex order, provides a rich source of physical randomness. The generated speckle patterns are processed using a post processing algorithm to produce random sequences at a rate of 1.42 Gbps. The statistical quality of the sequences is evaluated using the NIST SP 800-22, AIS-31, and Dieharder test suites, which meet the required randomness criteria. Further assessment using entropies and Kolmogorov complexity shows high entropy and algorithmic randomness. The physical unclonability and uniqueness are verified through inter-device hamming distances, Pearson correlation of sequences obtained from different spatial regions and vortex orders, revealing negligible correlations. To assess resilience against data based adversaries, machine learning modeling attacks are performed. The prediction accuracies remain close to random guessing, showing resistance to learning based cloning and response prediction attacks. These results establish the proposed optical PUF method as a high speed, physically unclonable, and machine learning resistant source of random numbers for secure cryptographic applications.
This paper presents a high-throughput true random number generator (TRNG) based on optical speckle patterns generated by illuminating natural plant leaves as biological physical unclonable functions (PUFs). A coherent He–Ne laser produces stochastic far-field speckle fields that are captured by a CMOS camera and converted into random bitstreams using a clearly defined post-processing pipeline. The full extraction procedure— including binary quantization, Von Neumann debiasing, and statistical balancing—is formalized in Algorithm 1 to support reproducibility. Experimental validation is performed using a 38-s dataset (1100 frames), and long-term stability is demonstrated through a 2-hour continuous recording. All evaluated segments show near-ideal entropy (0.9999991 bits/bit), balanced bit distributions, and zero-mean autocorrelation, confirming the robustness of the biological scattering medium over extended durations. After debiasing, the system achieves an effective throughput of approximately 75 Mbit/s, aligning with requirements for cryptographic and security-critical applications. The optical setup is compact and compatible with laser-diode sources and embedded imaging modules, enabling future development of portable, low-power speckle-based TRNG systems.
Abstract With the rapid development of digital ecosystems, such as mobile applications towards goods/monetary transactions, a new paradigm of data transfer arises, which requires fast and reliable algorithms to generate random numbers. The statistical nature of speckle‐based imaging creates an opportunity for these generators to arise as random number generators given the unpredictability and irreproducibility of such patterns. Hence, it is shown that the establishment of an experimental system is able to produce unique speckle patterns for remote cryptographic key storage and distribution, with a potential key rate generation of Gbs.
In this paper, we design a photonic-based true random number generator (True RNG) which is targeted for cryptographic application .Since all security protocols rely on unpredictability, RNGs for crypto applications must meet stringent requirements. The design employs a single-photon detection to generate a random signal which is useful in producing random output. In contrast with traditionally used of frequency sampler circuitry during bit extraction method, it uses a novel method of randomness extraction based on time interval between two successive random signals. The design comprises an optical setup and extremely compact and digitally random bit extraction circuitry which can be implemented on any advance crypto hardware devices. A NIST statistical test is used to test the randomness of the RNG output and has produced a good result. With the help of this True RNG, the cryptographic implementations can be secure enough from being abused of malicious act.
Random numbers have great application value in the fields of secure communications, which are commonly used as secret keys to encrypt the information. To guarantee that the information is absolutely secure in the current high-speed communication, the applied random keys should possess a generation speed not less than the encrypted data rate, according to one-time pad theory found by Shannon (Shannon C E 1949 Bell.Syst.Tech.J. 28 656) Pseudo-random numbers generated by algorithm may easily reach a fast speed, but a certain periodicity makes them difficult to meet the aforementioned demand of information security. Utilizing physical stochastic phenomena can provide reliable random numbers, called physical random number generators (RNGs). However, limited by the bandwidth of the conventional physical sources such as electronic noise, frequency jitter of oscillator and quantum randomness, the traditional physical RNG has a generation speed at a level of Mb/s typically. Therefore, real-time and ultrafast physical random number generation is urgently required from the view of absolute security for high-speed communication today. With the advent of wideband photonic entropy sources, in recent years lots of schemes for high-speed random number generation are proposed. Among them, chaotic laser has received great attention due to its ultra-wide bandwidth and large random fluctuation of intensity. The real-time speed of physical RNG based on chaotic laser is now limited under 5 Gb/s, although the reported RNG claims that an ultrafast speed of Tb/s is possible in theory. The main issues that restrict the real-time speed of RNG based on chaotic laser are from two aspects. The first aspect is electrical jitter bottleneck confronted by the electrical analog-to-digital converter (ADC). Specifically, most of the methods of extracting random numbers are first to convert the chaotic laser into an electrical signal by a photo-detector, then use an electrical ADC driven by radio frequency (RF) clock to sample and quantify the chaotic signal in electronic domain. Unfortunately, the response rate of ADC is below Gb/s restricted by the aperture jitter (several picoseconds) of RF clock in the sample and hold circuit. The second aspect comes from the complex post-processes, which are fundamental in current RNG techniques to realize a good randomness. The strict synchronization among post-processing components (e.g., XOR gates, memory buffers, high-order difference) is controlled by an RF clock. Similarly, it is also an insurmountable obstacle to achieve an accurate synchronization due to the electronic jitter of the RF clock. In this paper, we propose a method of ultrafast multi-bit physical RNG based on chaotic laser without any post-process. In this method, a train of optical pulses generated by a GHz mode-locked laser with low temporal jitter at a level of fs is used as an optical sampling clock. The chaotic laser is sampled in the optical domain through a low switching energy and high-linearity terahertz optical asymmetric demultiplexer (TOAD) sampler, which is a fiber loop with an asymmetrical nonlinear semiconductor optical amplifier. Then, the peak amplitude of each sampled chaotic pulse is digitized by a multi-bit comparator (i.e., a multi-bit ADC without sample and hold circuit) and converted into random numbers directly. Specifically, a proof-of-principle experiment is executed to demonstrate the aforementioned proposed method. In this experiment, an optical feedback chaotic laser is used, which has a bandwidth of 6 GHz. Through setting a sampling rate to be 5 GSa/s and selecting 4 LSBs outputs of the 8-bit comparator, 20 Gb/s (=5 GSa/s4 LSBs) physical random number sequences are obtained. Considering the ultrafast response rate of TOAD sampler, the speed of random numbers generated by this method has the potential to reach several hundreds of Gb/s as long as the used chaotic laser has a sufficient bandwidth.
Random numbers are fundamental elements in different fields of science and technology such as computer simulation like Monte Carlo-method simulation, statistical sampling, cryptography, games and gambling, and other areas where unpredictable results are necessary. Random number generators (RNG) are generally classified as “pseudo”-random number generators (PRNG) and "truly" random number generators (TRNG). Pseudo random numbers are generated by computer algorithms with a (random) seed and a specific formula. The random numbers produced in this way (with a small degree of unpredictability) are good enough for some applications such as computer simulation. However, for some other applications like cryptography they are not completely reliable. When the seed is revealed, the entire sequence of numbers can be produced. The periodicity is also an undesirable property of PRNGs that can be disregarded for most practical purposes if the sequence recurs after a very long period. However, the predictability still remains a tremendous disadvantage of this type of generators. Truly random numbers, on the other hand, can be generated through physical sources of randomness like flipping a coin. However, the approaches exploiting classical motion and classical physics to generate random numbers possess a deterministic nature that is transferred to the generated random numbers. The best solution is to benefit from the assets of indeterminacy and randomness in quantum physics. Based on the quantum theory, the properties of a particle cannot be determined with arbitrary precision until a measurement is carried out. The result of a measurement, therefore, remains unpredictable and random. Optical phenomena including photons as the quanta of light have various random, non-deterministic properties. These properties include the polarization of the photons, the exact number of photons impinging a detector and the photon arrival times. Such intrinsically random properties can be exploited to generate truly random numbers. Silicon (Si) is considered as an interesting material in integrated optics. Microelectronic chips made from Si are cheap and easy to mass-fabricate, and can be densely integrated. Si integrated optical chips, that can generate, modulate, process and detect light signals, exploit the benefits of Si while also being fully compatible with electronic. Since many electronic components can be integrated into a single chip, Si is an ideal candidate for the production of small, powerful devices. By complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology, the fabrication of compact and mass manufacturable devices with integrated components on the Si platform is achievable. In this thesis we aim to model, study and fabricate a compact photonic quantum random number generator (QRNG) on the Si platform that is able to generate high quality, "truly" random numbers. The proposed QRNG is based on a Si light source (LED) coupled with a Si single photon avalanche diode (SPAD) or an array of SPADs which is called Si photomultiplier (SiPM). Various implementations of QRNG have been developed reaching an ultimate geometry where both the source and the SPAD are integrated on the same chip and fabricated by the same process. This activity was performed within the project SiQuro—on Si chip quantum optics for quantum computing and secure communications—which aims to bring the quantum world into integrated photonics. By using the same successful paradigm of microelectronics—the study and design of very small electronic devices typically made from semiconductor materials—, the vision is to have low cost and mass manufacturable integrated quantum photonic circuits for a variety of different applications in quantum computing, measure, sensing, secure communications and services. The Si platform permits, in a natural way, the integration of quantum photonics with electronics. Two methodologies are presented to generate random numbers: one is based on photon counting measurements and another one is based on photon arrival time measurements. The latter is robust, masks all the drawbacks of afterpulsing, dead time and jitter of the Si SPAD and is effectively insensitive to ageing of the LED and to its emission drifts related to temperature variations. The raw data pass all the statistical tests in national institute of standards and technology (NIST) tests suite and TestU01 Alphabit battery without a post processing algorithm. The maximum demonstrated bit rate is 1.68 Mbps with the efficiency of 4-bits per detected photon. In order to realize a small, portable QRNG, we have produced a compact configuration consisting of a Si nanocrystals (Si-NCs) LED and a SiPM. All the statistical test in the NIST tests suite pass for the raw data with the maximum bit rate of 0.5 Mbps. We also prepared and studied a compact chip consisting of a Si-NCs LED and an array of detectors. An integrated chip, composed of Si p+/n junction working in avalanche region and a Si SPAD, was produced as well. High quality random numbers are produced through our robust methodology at the highest speed of 100 kcps. Integration of the source of entropy and the detector on a single chip is an efficient way to produce a compact RNG. A small RNG is an essential element to guarantee the security of our everyday life. It can be readily implemented into electronic devices for data encryption. The idea of "utmost security" would no longer be limited to particular organs owning sensitive information. It would be accessible to every one in everyday life.