Performance analysis of hardware and software based AES encryption on internet of things SoC

Internet of things (IoT) has become an easy target. As there are numerous devices, management is hard and security problems arise. There are various encryption algorithms to provide the security of data on an IoT device. One of the encryption algorithms that is used for IoT devices is the AES algorithm. Although the AES algorithm is not a lightweight algorithm, it can effectively be used to protect the data of IoT devices. In this paper, a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) module is used as an IoT device. The AES algorithm is used to encrypt the data that is generated on the BLE device. There are two options for encryption: hardware-based encryption and software-based one. The aim of the paper is to show the hardware implementation efficiency of the AES algorithm on an IoT device by comparing it with software implementation. As a result, the hardware implementation of the AES algorithm is efficient when using the proper hardware infrastructure.