1995-09-29 - Re: Simple Hardware RNG Idea

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From: tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Message Hash: 2a8bfec2dd1d7be2e906bfa1520798c456bab3e69bcf572deacac1dcc73231a3
Message ID: <ac9161a3050210040cbd@[205.199.118.202]>
Reply To: N/A
UTC Datetime: 1995-09-29 15:39:00 UTC
Raw Date: Fri, 29 Sep 95 08:39:00 PDT

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From: tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 95 08:39:00 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Simple Hardware RNG Idea
Message-ID: <ac9161a3050210040cbd@[205.199.118.202]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At 4:14 PM 9/28/95, cjs wrote:
>Hello all.
>
>Someone mentioned this on IRC last night, and it sounded like a really
>cool idea, so I thought I'd mention it.
>
>The idea is to generate random numbers using a geiger counter tube and
>a small portion of radioactive substance (like perhaps the stuff they
>use in smoke detectors?) Would that be random enough?
>
>I thought it was a neat idea anyway.


It's a well-known idea. My FAQ has a section on this, and the Cypherpunks
archives have many mentions of this.

For the newcomers, here are some of the issues, very briefly presented:

1. Incorporating a "Geiger counter tube" is nontrivial. A solid-state
detector does the same thing, and is a better approach.

2. Incorporating Am-241 or other alpha emitters in microcurie levels would
require licensing, regulatory oversight, etc., etc. Don't count on it.

3. Data rates are fairly low. Anything that "clicks" at high rates (> 1K
counts per second) would be too radioactive to ship.

4. Zener diodes and other random noise sources are cheaper to build, more
consistent in output, and easier to integrate into actual products.

--Tim May

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Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
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