ENHANCED IMPLEMENTATION AND PERFORMANCE BENCHMARKING OF AES FOR SECURE DATA ENCRYPTION

With the increasing need for secure data transmission in computer networks, numerous cryptographic algorithmshave been developed. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) introduced the AdvancedEncryption Standard (AES) as a robust security standard to protect electronic data. Its specifications are outlinedin Publication 197 of the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS). AES operates on 128-bit data blocksand utilizes 128-bit cipher keys (AES-128) for encryption and decryption.This paper proposes an optimized AES-128 encryption model where round keys are dynamically generatedalongside the encryption process. This unique pipelined design minimizes encryption delay for each round,significantly reducing the overall processing time of a plaintext block. As a result, the encryption throughput isimproved, enhancing communication security and efficiency.