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Post-Quantum Entropy as a Service for Embedded Systems

by Javier Blanco-Romero, Yuri Melissa Garcia-Niño, Florina Almenares Mendoza, Daniel Díaz-Sánchez, Carlos García-Rubio and Celeste Campo

Sensors 2026, 26(9), 2737; https://doi.org/10.3390/s26092737 - 28 Apr 2026

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Abstract

Embedded cryptography stands or falls on entropy quality, yet small devices have few trustworthy sources and little tolerance for heavyweight protocols. We build a Quantum Entropy as a Service (QEaaS) system that moves QRNG-derived entropy from a Quantis device to ESP32-class clients over post-quantum-secured channels. On the server side, the design exposes two paths: direct quantum entropy through a custom OpenSSL provider and mixed entropy through the Linux system pool. On the client side, we extend libcoap’s Zephyr support, integrate wolfSSL-based DTLS 1.3 into the CoAP stack, and add a BLAKE2s entropy pool that preserves the standard Zephyr extraction interface while introducing an injection API for server-provided entropy. Benchmarks on ESP32 hardware, targeting 100 iterations per configuration, show that ML-KEM-512 completes a DTLS 1.3 handshake in 313 ms on average without certificate verification, 35% faster than ECDHE P-256. Pairing ML-KEM-512 with ML-DSA-44 lowers the mean to 225 ms. Certificate verification adds roughly 194 ms for ECDSA but only 17 ms for ML-DSA-44, so the fully post-quantum configuration remains 63% faster than classical ECDHE P-256 with ECDSA even under full verification. Local BLAKE2s pool operations stay below 0.1 ms combined. On this platform, post-quantum key exchange and authentication are not only feasible; they are faster than the classical baseline. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resilient and Sustainable Security in the Post-Quantum Internet of Things)

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25 pages, 9127 KB

Open AccessArticle

Applicability and Design Considerations of Chaotic and Quantum Entropy Sources for Random Number Generation in IoT Devices

by Wieslaw Marszalek, Michał Melosik, Mariusz Naumowicz and Przemysław Głowacki

Entropy 2025, 27(7), 726; https://doi.org/10.3390/e27070726 - 4 Jul 2025

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1504

Abstract

This article presents a comparative analysis of two types of generators of random sequences: one based on a discrete chaotic system being the logistic map, and the other being a commercial quantum random number generator QUANTIS-USB-4M. The results of the conducted analysis serve as a guide for selecting the type of generator that is more suited for a specific IoT solution, depending on the functional profile of the target application and the amount of random data required in the cryptographic process. This article discusses both the theoretical foundations of chaotic phenomena underlying the pseudorandom number generator based on the logistic map, as well as the theoretical principles of photon detection used in the quantum random number generators. A hardware IP Core implementing the logistic map was developed, suitable for direct implementation either as a standalone ASIC using the SkyWater PDK process or on an FPGA. The generated bitstreams from the implemented IP Core were evaluated for randomness. The analysis of the entropy levels and evaluation of randomness for both the logistic map and the quantum random number generator were performed using the ent tool and NIST test suite. Full article

(This article belongs to the Section Multidisciplinary Applications)

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