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From: Markus Kuhn <Markus.Kuhn@cl.cam.ac.uk>
Subject: Re: Bignum modular types in Ada95
Date: 1998/01/29
Date: 1998-01-29T00:00:00+00:00	[thread overview]
Message-ID: <34D04FFD.41C6@cl.cam.ac.uk> (raw)
In-Reply-To: EnIIvn.3zr@world.std.com


Robert A Duff wrote:
> >Handling 1024-bit integer arithmetic in the Ada compiler and not in
> >some library package has the advantage that the compiler will later
> >be able to do much better optimization (e.g. automatic register
> >allocation), once we get CPUs with 1024-bit integer registers and
> >ALUs, which I expect to happen in the next three years.
> 
> Are you talking about special-purpose hardware?  I doubt if 1024-bit
> registers will exist in general-purpose computers any time soon.  (I
> reserve the right to redefine "soon" at will.)

No, I am talking about the standard off-the-shelf Pentium
successor in a few years, not about any exotic special hardware.
IPv6 and electronic commerce will make it necessary that normal
workstations can to thousands of 1024-bit modexp operations per
second for authentication protocols. This is commonly expected to
be the next major functional extention after MMX.

20-dollar smartcard microcontrollers have such 1024-bit registers/ALUs
already available today. It is just a matter of time until we
see them in workstation processors.

> Anyway, having the feature "built in" gives other advantages: literals,
> range checking, case_statements, etc.  None of that works with some
> library package (unfortunately).

Agree. Dear Ada compiler developers, please have a look again at
builtin bignum support!

Markus

-- 
Markus G. Kuhn, Security Group, Computer Lab, Cambridge University, UK
email: mkuhn at acm.org,  home page: <http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/>




  parent reply	other threads:[~1998-01-29  0:00 UTC|newest]

Thread overview: 31+ messages / expand[flat|nested]  mbox.gz  Atom feed  top
1998-01-27  0:00 Bignum modular types in Ada95 Markus Kuhn
1998-01-28  0:00 ` Markus Kuhn
1998-01-28  0:00   ` Brian Rogoff
1998-01-29  0:00     ` Markus Kuhn
1998-01-30  0:00       ` Brian Rogoff
     [not found]   ` <EnIIvn.3zr@world.std.com>
1998-01-29  0:00     ` Markus Kuhn [this message]
1998-01-31  0:00       ` Nick Roberts
1998-01-29  0:00     ` Mats Weber
     [not found]       ` <EnKEtu.KGp@world.std.com>
1998-01-30  0:00         ` Mats Weber
1998-02-01  0:00           ` Robert Dewar
1998-02-01  0:00           ` Robert Dewar
1998-01-30  0:00         ` Markus Kuhn
1998-01-30  0:00           ` Mats Weber
1998-01-30  0:00             ` Markus Kuhn
1998-01-31  0:00               ` Nick Roberts
1998-02-01  0:00           ` Robert Dewar
1998-01-31  0:00         ` Nick Roberts
1998-02-01  0:00         ` Robert Dewar
1998-02-01  0:00     ` Robert Dewar
1998-02-01  0:00   ` Robert Dewar
1998-02-02  0:00     ` Tarjei T. Jensen
1998-02-02  0:00       ` Robert Dewar
1998-02-03  0:00         ` Tarjei T. Jensen
1998-02-04  0:00           ` Keith Thompson
1998-01-28  0:00 ` Nick Roberts
1998-01-28  0:00   ` Nick Roberts
1998-02-01  0:00     ` Robert Dewar
1998-02-07  0:00       ` Nick Roberts
1998-02-09  0:00         ` Robert Dewar
1998-01-28  0:00   ` Larry Kilgallen
1998-01-28  0:00 ` Dmitriy Anisimkov
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