ELLIPTIC CURVE CRYPTOSYSTEMS
• Although RSA and ElGamal are secure asymmetric-key cryptosystems,
their security comes with a price, their large keys.
• Researchers have looked for alternatives that give the same level of
security with smaller key sizes. One of these promising alternatives is
the elliptic curve cryptosystem (ECC).
• The system is based on the theory of elliptic curves.
• The general equation for an elliptic curve is
Elliptic curves over real numbers use a special class of elliptic curves of
the form
• In a non singular elliptic curve, the equation x 3 + ax + b = 0 has three
distinct roots (real or com plex);
• in a singular elliptic curve the equation x 3 + ax + b = 0 does not have
three distinct roots.
•
An Abelian Group
Elliptic Curves over GF(p)
• Cryptography requires modular arithmetic.
• We use the same addition operation with the calculation done in
modulo p. We call the resulting elliptic curve Ep(a,b) of the equation ,
where p defines the modulus and a and b are the coefficient y2 = x 3 +
ax + b. Note that although the value of x in this case ranges from 0 to
p, normally not all points are on the curve.
Elliptic Curves over GF(2 n )
• To define an elliptic curve over GF(2 n equation is ), one needs to
change the cubic equation. The common y 2 + xy = x 3 + ax 2 + b
where b ≠ 0. Note that the value of x, y, a, and b are polynomials
representing n-bit words.
