Two Methods of Rijndael Implementation in Reconfigurable Hardware

This paper presents an evaluation of the Rijndael cipher, the Advanced Encryption Standard winner, from the viewpoint of its implementation in a Field Programmable Devices (FPD). Starting with an analysis of algorithm’s general characteristics a general cipher structure is described. Two different methods of Rijndael algorithm mapping to FPD are analyzed and suitability of available FPD families is evaluated. Finally, results of proposed mapping implemented in Altera FLEX, ACEX and APEX FPD are presented and compared with the fastest known Xilinx FPGA implementation. Results obtained are significantly faster than that of other implementations known up to now.