CIPHER BLOCK BASED AUTHENTICATION MODULE: A HARDWARE DESIGN PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Message Authentication Codes (MACs) are widely used in order to authenticate data packets, which are transmitted thought networks. Typically MACs are implemented using modules like hash functions and in conjunction with encryption algorithms (like Block Ciphers), which are used to encrypt the transmitted data. However NIST in May 2005 issued a standard, addressing certain applications and their needs, defining a way to implement MACs through FIPS-approved and secure block cipher algorithms. In this paper the best performing implementation of the CMAC standard is presented, in terms of throughput, along with an efficient AES design and implementation.