A Segmented Leap-Ahead LFSR Pseudo-Random Number Generator

Abstract

A LFSR is commonly used for various stream cryptography applications to generate random numbers. A Leap-ahead LFSR was presented to generate a multi-bits random number per cycle. It only requires a single LFSR and it has an advantages in hardware complexity. However, it suffers from the significant reduction of maximum period of the generated random numbers. This paper presents the new segmented Leap-ahead LFSR to solve this problem. It consists of two segmented LFSRs. We prove the efficiency of the proposed segmented architecture using the precise mathematical analysis. We also demonstrate the proposed comparison results with other counterparts using Xinilx Vertex5 FPGA. The proposed architecture can increase 2.5 times of the maximum period of generated random numbers compared to the typical Leap-ahead architecture.