CRC-Based Error Detection Constructions for FLT and ITA Finite Field Inversions Over GF(2 m )

Abstract

Binary extension finite fields ${\mathrm{ GF}}(2^{m})$ have received prominent attention in the literature due to their application in many modern public-key cryptosystems and error-correcting codes. In particular, the inversion over ${\mathrm{ GF}}(2^{m})$ is crucial for current and postquantum cryptographic applications. Schemes such as Fermat’s little theorem (FLT) and the Itoh–Tsujii algorithm (ITA) have been studied to achieve better performance; however, this arithmetic operation is a complex, expensive, and time-consuming task that may require thousands of gates, increasing its vulnerability chance to natural defects. In this work, we propose efficient hardware architectures based on cyclic redundancy check (CRC) as error detection schemes for state-of-the-art finite field inversion over ${\mathrm{ GF}}(2^{m})$ for a polynomial basis. To verify the derivations of the formulations, software implementations are performed. Likewise, hardware implementations of the original finite field inversions with the proposed error detection schemes are performed over Xilinx field-programmable gate array (FPGA) verifying that the proposed schemes achieve high error coverage with acceptable overhead.