Compiler assisted elliptic curve cryptography

Abstract

Although cryptographic software implementation is often performed by expert programmers, the range of performance and secu- rity driven options, as well as more mundane software engineering issues, still make it a challenge. The use of domain specific language and com- piler techniques to assist in description and optimisation of cryptographic software is an interesting research challenge. Our results, which focus on Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), show that a suitable language allows description of ECC based software in a manner close to the original mathe- matics; the corresponding compiler allows automatic production of an ex- ecutable whose performance is competitive with that of a hand-optimised implementation. Our work are set within the context of CACE, an ongo- ing EU funded pro ject on this general topic.