METHOD AND APPARATUS SUPPORTING TUNABLE ALIGNMENT FOR CIPHER/AUTHENTICATION IMPLEMENTATIONS

A cryptographic system includes a block transfer engine and a crypto map unit. The block transfer engine is configured to receive a plurality of encrypted counter values and a plurality of packet attributes. The block transfer engine is further configured to determine a subset of encrypted counter values from the plurality of counter values that is to be used to encrypt a subset of incoming packets from a plurality of incoming packets. Encrypted counter values other than the subset of encrypted counter values are stored for later encryption use. The crypto map unit is configured to receive the plurality of incoming packets and the subset of encrypted counter values from the block transfer engine. The crypto map unit is further configured to encrypt the subset of incoming packets from the received plurality of incoming packets with the subset of encrypted counter values.