Hardware-Software Co-Design of the Lightweight Authenticated Encryption Algorithm ASCON for Internet of Things

With the rapid development of Internet of Things (IoT) technology, the popularity of smart devices poses new challenges to data security. ASCON algorithm is an ideal choice for IoT applications because of its lightweight characteristics and excellent security performance. This paper first summarizes the basic principle of ASCON algorithm and its position in NIST lightweight encryption standard, and then introduces the goal and implementation strategy of its software and hardware co-design in detail. By designing an efficient hardware IP core and optimizing the software implementation, this paper significantly improves the encryption processing speed, reduces the memory occupation and optimizes the energy efficiency. The test results show that the co-design of hardware and software not only improves the performance stability of ASCON algorithm, but also provides a more solid security guarantee for IoT devices, laying a foundation for future smart device applications.