Open Access

ARTICLE

Optimizing AES S-Box Implementation: A SAT-Based Approach with Tower Field Representations

Jingya Feng¹, Ying Zhao^2,*, Tao Ye¹, Wei Feng^3,*

1 School of Computer Science and Information Security, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin, 541004, China
2 School of Computing and Information Systems, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, 3010, Australia
3 Guangxi Wangxin Information Technology Co., Ltd., Nanning, 530000, China

* Corresponding Authors: Ying Zhao. Email: ; Wei Feng. Email:

Computers, Materials & Continua 2025, 83(1), 1491-1507. https://doi.org/10.32604/cmc.2025.059882

Received 18 October 2024; Accepted 02 February 2025; Issue published 26 March 2025

Abstract

The efficient implementation of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) is crucial for network data security. This paper presents novel hardware implementations of the AES S-box, a core component, using tower field representations and Boolean Satisfiability (SAT) solvers. Our research makes several significant contributions to the field. Firstly, we have optimized the GF() inversion, achieving a remarkable 31.35% area reduction (15.33 GE) compared to the best known implementations. Secondly, we have enhanced multiplication implementations for transformation matrices using a SAT-method based on local solutions. This approach has yielded notable improvements, such as a 22.22% reduction in area (42.00 GE) for the top transformation matrix in GF(()²)-type S-box implementation. Furthermore, we have proposed new implementations of GF((()²)²)-type and GF(()²)-type S-boxes, with the GF((()²)²)-type demonstrating superior performance. This implementation offers two variants: a small area variant that sets new area records, and a fast variant that establishes new benchmarks in Area-Execution-Time (AET) and energy consumption. Our approach significantly improves upon existing S-box implementations, offering advancements in area, speed, and energy consumption. These optimizations contribute to more efficient and secure AES implementations, potentially enhancing various cryptographic applications in the field of network security.

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Keywords

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