summaryrefslogtreecommitdiff
path: root/security/nss/lib/freebl/mpi/utils/README
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'security/nss/lib/freebl/mpi/utils/README')
-rw-r--r--security/nss/lib/freebl/mpi/utils/README239
1 files changed, 239 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/security/nss/lib/freebl/mpi/utils/README b/security/nss/lib/freebl/mpi/utils/README
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..86887bf81
--- /dev/null
+++ b/security/nss/lib/freebl/mpi/utils/README
@@ -0,0 +1,239 @@
+The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public
+License Version 1.1 (the "License"); you may not use this file
+except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of
+the License at http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/
+
+Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS
+IS" basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or
+implied. See the License for the specific language governing
+rights and limitations under the License.
+
+The Original Code is the MPI Arbitrary Precision Integer Arithmetic
+library.
+
+The Initial Developer of the Original Code is
+Michael J. Fromberger <sting@linguist.dartmouth.edu>
+
+Portions created by Michael J. Fromberger are
+Copyright (C) 1998, 2000 Michael J. Fromberger. All Rights Reserved.
+
+Contributor(s):
+
+Alternatively, the contents of this file may be used under the
+terms of the GNU General Public License Version 2 or later (the
+"GPL"), in which case the provisions of the GPL are applicable
+instead of those above. If you wish to allow use of your
+version of this file only under the terms of the GPL and not to
+allow others to use your version of this file under the MPL,
+indicate your decision by deleting the provisions above and
+replace them with the notice and other provisions required by
+the GPL. If you do not delete the provisions above, a recipient
+may use your version of this file under either the MPL or the
+GPL.
+
+
+
+Additional MPI utilities
+------------------------
+
+The files 'mpprime.h' and 'mpprime.c' define some useful extensions to
+the MPI library for dealing with prime numbers (in particular, testing
+for divisbility, and the Rabin-Miller probabilistic primality test).
+
+The files 'mplogic.h' and 'mplogic.c' define extensions to the MPI
+library for doing bitwise logical operations and shifting.
+
+This document assumes you have read the help file for the MPI library
+and understand its conventions.
+
+Divisibility (mpprime.h)
+------------
+
+To test a number for divisibility by another number:
+
+mpp_divis(a, b) - test if b|a
+mpp_divis_d(a, d) - test if d|a
+
+Each of these functions returns MP_YES if its initial argument is
+divisible by its second, or MP_NO if it is not. Other errors may be
+returned as appropriate (such as MP_RANGE if you try to test for
+divisibility by zero).
+
+Randomness (mpprime.h)
+----------
+
+To generate random data:
+
+mpp_random(a) - fill a with random data
+mpp_random_size(a, p) - fill a with p digits of random data
+
+The mpp_random_size() function increases the precision of a to at
+least p, then fills all those digits randomly. The mp_random()
+function fills a to its current precision (as determined by the number
+of significant digits, USED(a))
+
+Note that these functions simply use the C library's rand() function
+to fill a with random digits up to its precision. This should be
+adequate for primality testing, but should not be used for
+cryptographic applications where truly random values are required for
+security.
+
+You should call srand() in your driver program in order to seed the
+random generator; this function doesn't call it.
+
+Primality Testing (mpprime.h)
+-----------------
+
+mpp_divis_vector(a, v, s, w) - is a divisible by any of the s values
+ in v, and if so, w = which.
+mpp_divis_primes(a, np) - is a divisible by any of the first np primes?
+mpp_fermat(a, w) - is a pseudoprime with respect to witness w?
+mpp_pprime(a, nt) - run nt iterations of Rabin-Miller on a.
+
+The mpp_divis_vector() function tests a for divisibility by each
+member of an array of digits. The array is v, the size of that array
+is s. Returns MP_YES if a is divisible, and stores the index of the
+offending digit in w. Returns MP_NO if a is not divisible by any of
+the digits in the array.
+
+A small table of primes is compiled into the library (typically the
+first 128 primes, although you can change this by editing the file
+'primes.c' before you build). The global variable prime_tab_size
+contains the number of primes in the table, and the values themselves
+are in the array prime_tab[], which is an array of mp_digit.
+
+The mpp_divis_primes() function is basically just a wrapper around
+mpp_divis_vector() that uses prime_tab[] as the test vector. The np
+parameter is a pointer to an mp_digit -- on input, it should specify
+the number of primes to be tested against. If a is divisible by any
+of the primes, MP_YES is returned and np is given the prime value that
+divided a (you can use this if you're factoring, for example).
+Otherwise, MP_NO is returned and np is untouched.
+
+The function mpp_fermat() performs Fermat's test, using w as a
+witness. This test basically relies on the fact that if a is prime,
+and w is relatively prime to a, then:
+
+ w^a = w (mod a)
+
+That is,
+
+ w^(a - 1) = 1 (mod a)
+
+The function returns MP_YES if the test passes, MP_NO if it fails. If
+w is relatively prime to a, and the test fails, a is definitely
+composite. If w is relatively prime to a and the test passes, then a
+is either prime, or w is a false witness (the probability of this
+happening depends on the choice of w and of a ... consult a number
+theory textbook for more information about this).
+
+Note: If (w, a) != 1, the output of this test is meaningless.
+----
+
+The function mpp_pprime() performs the Rabin-Miller probabilistic
+primality test for nt rounds. If all the tests pass, MP_YES is
+returned, and a is probably prime. The probability that an answer of
+MP_YES is incorrect is no greater than 1 in 4^nt, and in fact is
+usually much less than that (this is a pessimistic estimate). If any
+test fails, MP_NO is returned, and a is definitely composite.
+
+Bruce Schneier recommends at least 5 iterations of this test for most
+cryptographic applications; Knuth suggests that 25 are reasonable.
+Run it as many times as you feel are necessary.
+
+See the programs 'makeprime.c' and 'isprime.c' for reasonable examples
+of how to use these functions for primality testing.
+
+
+Bitwise Logic (mplogic.c)
+-------------
+
+The four commonest logical operations are implemented as:
+
+mpl_not(a, b) - Compute bitwise (one's) complement, b = ~a
+
+mpl_and(a, b, c) - Compute bitwise AND, c = a & b
+
+mpl_or(a, b, c) - Compute bitwise OR, c = a | b
+
+mpl_xor(a, b, c) - Compute bitwise XOR, c = a ^ b
+
+Left and right shifts are available as well. These take a number to
+shift, a destination, and a shift amount. The shift amount must be a
+digit value between 0 and DIGIT_BIT inclusive; if it is not, MP_RANGE
+will be returned and the shift will not happen.
+
+mpl_rsh(a, b, d) - Compute logical right shift, b = a >> d
+
+mpl_lsh(a, b, d) - Compute logical left shift, b = a << d
+
+Since these are logical shifts, they fill with zeroes (the library
+uses a signed magnitude representation, so there are no sign bits to
+extend anyway).
+
+
+Command-line Utilities
+----------------------
+
+A handful of interesting command-line utilities are provided. These
+are:
+
+lap.c - Find the order of a mod m. Usage is 'lap <a> <m>'.
+ This uses a dumb algorithm, so don't use it for
+ a really big modulus.
+
+invmod.c - Find the inverse of a mod m, if it exists. Usage
+ is 'invmod <a> <m>'
+
+sieve.c - A simple bitmap-based implementation of the Sieve
+ of Eratosthenes. Used to generate the table of
+ primes in primes.c. Usage is 'sieve <nbits>'
+
+prng.c - Uses the routines in bbs_rand.{h,c} to generate
+ one or more 32-bit pseudo-random integers. This
+ is mainly an example, not intended for use in a
+ cryptographic application (the system time is
+ the only source of entropy used)
+
+dec2hex.c - Convert decimal to hexadecimal
+
+hex2dec.c - Convert hexadecimal to decimal
+
+basecvt.c - General radix conversion tool (supports 2-64)
+
+isprime.c - Probabilistically test an integer for primality
+ using the Rabin-Miller pseudoprime test combined
+ with division by small primes.
+
+primegen.c - Generate primes at random.
+
+exptmod.c - Perform modular exponentiation
+
+ptab.pl - A Perl script to munge the output of the sieve
+ program into a compilable C structure.
+
+
+Other Files
+-----------
+
+PRIMES - Some randomly generated numbers which are prime with
+ extremely high probability.
+
+README - You're reading me already.
+
+
+About the Author
+----------------
+
+This software was written by Michael J. Fromberger. You can contact
+the author as follows:
+
+E-mail: <sting@linguist.dartmouth.edu>
+
+Postal: 8000 Cummings Hall, Thayer School of Engineering
+ Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
+
+PGP key: http://linguist.dartmouth.edu/~sting/keys/mjf.html
+ 9736 188B 5AFA 23D6 D6AA BE0D 5856 4525 289D 9907
+
+Last updated: $Id$