Design of Stream Cipher for Encryption of Data Using Cellular Automata

Pseudo-random number generators (PRNGs) are a key component of stream ciphers used for encryption purposes. While Non linear Feedback Shift Registers (NFSRs) combined with cellular automata has been utilized for PRNGs, the use of cellular automata (CA) is another viable option. This paper explores the combination of NFSRs and CA as the key components of an efficient stream cipher design for implementation on Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). The proposed stream cipher design builds upon a recent published design known as A2U2, which uses the principles of stream cipher and approaches from block cipher design. Comparisons with the A2U2 design indicate that the use of CA have the potential to improve the quality of the random numbers generated and hence increase the security of the cipher. .