A simple high-speed random number generator with minimal post-processing using a random Raman fiber laser

Frédéric Monet,Raman Kashyap,Jean-Sébastien Boisvert

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-92668-0

Frédéric Monet, Raman Kashyap + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-92668-0

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Journal: Scientific Reports	Publication Date: Jun 23, 2021
Citations: 18	License type: open-access

Affiliation: Polytechnique Montréal

Abstract

A simple novel method for random number generation is presented, based on a random Raman fiber laser. This laser is built in a half-open cavity scheme, closed on one side by a narrow-linewidth 100 mm fiber Bragg grating. The interaction between the randomly excited lasing modes of this laser, in addition to nonlinear effects such as modulation instability, allow the generation of random bits at rates of up to 540 Gbps with minimal post processing. Evaluation of the resulting bit streams’ randomness by the NIST statistical test suite highlights the importance of evaluating the physical entropy content, as bit sequences generated by this random laser pass all the statistical tests with a significance level of 0.01, despite being generated at more than twice the theoretical entropy generation speed.

Highlights

Random number generation (RNG) has risen in interest for various applications such as Monte Carlo simulations and secure communications, where pseudo-random numbers generated by deterministic algorithms do not have the necessary non-reproducibility and non-periodicity of true physical random n umbers[1]
Even more complex post-processing algorithms have been investigated, for example relying on successive derivatives of the measured signal, which artificially increases the number of bits digitized by an analog to digital converter (ADC)
We show that, while a bit sequence generated at 1.28 Tbps can pass statistical tests such as autocorrelation and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) randomness test suite without any further deterministic post-processing steps, the theoretical entropy generated by this laser is limited to 540 Gbps

Summary

Introduction

Random number generation (RNG) has risen in interest for various applications such as Monte Carlo simulations and secure communications, where pseudo-random numbers generated by deterministic algorithms do not have the necessary non-reproducibility and non-periodicity of true physical random n umbers[1]. We demonstrate a novel RNG technique that is based on the interaction of lasing modes, but this time in a random laser.

Results

Conclusion