A survey on the applications of Niho exponents

Abstract

The Niho exponent was introduced by Yoji Niho, who investigated the cross-correlation function between an m-sequence and its decimation sequence in 1972. Since then, Niho exponents have been used in other research areas such as in cryptography and coding theory. In this paper, we introduce some research problems related to Niho exponents and survey some recent progress in the application of Niho exponents. Some open problems in the areas of sequence design, cryptography and coding theory regarding Niho exponents are also presented.