Real-time fast physical random number generator with a photonic integrated circuit

Area of Science:

• Photonics
• Information Security
• Computational Science

Background:

• Random number generators are crucial for secure information and complex simulations.
• Existing optical chaos generators often require bulky offline post-processing.
• There is a need for real-time, compact random number generation solutions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and demonstrate a real-time hardware implementation of a fast physical random number generator.
• To integrate photonic integrated circuits with Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) for efficient random bit generation.
• To validate the statistical quality of the generated random sequences for practical applications.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a photonic integrated circuit to generate chaos.
• Integrated the photonic chip with an FPGA for real-time processing.
• Generated 1-Tbit of random bit sequences.
• Assessed randomness using NIST SP 800-22 and TestU01 (BigCrush tests).

Main Results:

• Achieved a maximum real-time generation rate of 21.1 Gb/s.
• Successfully passed all BigCrush tests in TestU01 with 410-Gbit sequences.
• Demonstrated the capability to produce high-volume, statistically robust random bit sequences.

Conclusions:

• The developed system offers a compact and efficient solution for high-speed random number generation.
• The generated sequences meet rigorous statistical standards for demanding applications.
• This technology is suitable for direct use in cryptography and large-scale numerical simulations.