The Technology Dependence of Lightweight Hash Implementation Cost

The growing demand of security features in pervasive computing requires cryptographic implementations to meet tight cost constraints. Lightweight Cryptography is a generic term that captures new efforts in this area, covering lightweight cryptography proposals as well as lightweight implementation techniques. This paper demonstrates the influence of technology selection when comparing different lightweight hash designs and when using lightweight cryptography techniques to implement a hash design. First, we demonstrate the impact of technology selection to the cost analysis of existing lightweight hash designs through two case studies: the new lightweight proposal Quark [1] and a lightweight implementation of CubeHash [2]. Second, by observing the interaction of hash algorithm design, architecture design, and technology mapping, we propose a methodology for lightweight hash implementation and apply it to Cubehash optimizations. Finally, we introduce a cost model for analyzing the hardware cost of lightweight hash implementations.