Image encryption application and security analysis based on current modulated edge-emitting semiconductor lasers with pulse packages embedded in the microcontroller

Abstract

This paper investigates the dynamical characteristics of current-modulated edge-emitting semiconductor lasers (CMEESLs) and their image encryption application. The associated dynamical characteristic of the CMEESL is divulged in the two-dimensional coordinate space of the system parameters by altering the modulation’s frequency and amplitude. The CMEESL divulges cyclical pulse packages preceded by cyclic-doubling cascade follow by complex pulse packages when the modulation current density frequency is limited below 1 GHz. The microcontroller implementation of the CMEESL is realized and its results find agreement compared with the numerical dynamics of the CMEESL. The chaotic equations describing CMEESL are first modeled in the LabVIEW program and random number generation (RNG) is performed. The obtained random numbers are subjected to the NIST 800–22 statistical standard package, proving its worth to be employed for encryption applications. Employing the random numbers gotten, the LabVIEW environment is used in encrypting the image. The encrypted image is subjected to histogram, correlation, number of pixel change rates (NPCR) - unified average changing intensity (UACI), and entropy analyses. The reliability of the method is proven by the success achieved in the encryption process.