ASCON-AEAD 128 Implementation in a Software Numerical Platform for Constrained-Resources Devices

Abstract

ASCON is a family of lightweight cryptographic algorithms; one of the members is the Authenticated Encryption with Associated Data (AEAD) designed to ensure security while efficiently considering memory and energy usage. In 2023, it has been it was selected as the standard for lightweight cryptography, highlighting its suitability for resource-constrained devices. In this paper we present a comprehensive implementation of the ASCON-AEAD 128 algorithm in a Software Numerical Platform. The development of this algorithm in such a platform provides programmers and researchers with a versatile platform to simulate, gather metrics, and analyze its performance when implementing ASCON-AEAD 128 in a wide variety of scenarios. Furthermore, this implementation has potential applications in constrained-resource devices such as embedded systems, and IoT devices.