FALCON

Abstract

FALCON is a lattice-based cryptographic algorithm which claims to provide a signature scheme that is unforgeable against quantum-computers; it is the second such algorithm we consider in-depth, of the eight in this book. This algorithm is divided into three components: key generation, signature generation, and signature verification. We select three variants of FALCON with distinct security strength and make these variants capable of synthesis by a High-Level Synthesis (HLS) tool. We summarize all the changes in the C code to make it capable of synthesis. Using HLS, we generate FPGA and ASIC designs for signature verification of three variants. For FALCON hardware architectures, we evaluate trade-offs in power, area, speed, and security parameters. We explore the design-space through a detailed analysis of FPGA and ASIC designs for FALCON, concluding that for the FPGA implementation, latency increases with security while for the ASIC-specific implementation, loop pipelining improves the latency without any additional memory or area cost.