Lightweight Cryptography

This chapter provides an overview of the standardization efforts, desired features and design trends used in lightweight cryptography. Over the last decade, a number of standardization efforts and public competitions were organized focusing on lightweight cryptography. The chapter explores some of the desired features of the lightweight algorithms for different use cases. Similar to general-purpose cryptographic algorithms, security is the most important criterion in lightweight designs. The hardware performance of the algorithms is one of the most relevant features in lightweight cryptography. The software performance of the algorithms in 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit microcontrollers is also important for lightweight designs. Most general-purpose cryptography algorithms are optimized for handling long messages to achieve high throughput. All-in-one algorithms that use the same underlying primitive to provide multiple functionalities provide benefits in hardware area requirements when the application requires more than one functionality.