Hardware Implementation of Lightweight Block Ciphers for IoT Sensors

Abstract

Small devices such as sensors in Internet of Things (IoT) networks have highly constrained resources, which significantly influences the choice of cipher algorithm and communication method. For these devices, lightweight block ciphers such as SIMON, SPECK, SIMECK, CHAM, LED, Piccolo, and TWINE have been proposed, and radio-frequency identification (RFID) communication is considered to be a suitable communication method for IoT sensors because it can transmit power remotely. In this study, we implemented the aforementioned lightweight block ciphers in round- and serial-based structures and analyzed their suitability for IoT sensors using ultra-high-frequency (UHF) and high frequency (HF) RFID communication. To obtain the result using the same technology library, we have re-implemented all the block ciphers including one that has not been included in the previous research. The results of our comparison show that CHAM has the smallest area requirement. According to our analysis, only round-based CHAM, Piccolo, and LED are suitable for IoT sensors, such as those in the Smart Dust system, using UHF RFID communication, and all serial-based ciphers are suitable for IoT sensors such as biosensors when using HF RFID communication.