At 11:06 AM 3/12/99 +1300, you wrote:
>Typical processor based RNG's which use an algorithm would be
>dangerous - they would amenable to cryptographic attack., However, a
>true random number generator using eg diode thermal noise etc would
>fit the bill.
>

Yes,but don't you want something with a uniform distribution? IOW, a one
time pad where all posible values are equally likely? You can't get this
directly from diode noise,since it has a non-uniform distribution (I'm
guessing here,maybe Gaussian or Laplacian?),which would also open it up to
attack since some numbers would be more likely than others and patterns
would emerge. You would have to look at the distribution which your diode
setup produced,and run it through a function which mapped it to a uniform
distribution (usually in computer algorithms,this is done in reverse,a
pseudorandom uniform distributed generator is mapped to some other desired
distribution,such as gaussian).


Sean

|
| Sean Breheny
| Amateur Radio Callsign: KA3YXM
| Electrical Engineering Student
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