FPGA-based SIMD processor

A massively parallel single instruction multiple data stream (SIMD) processor designed specifically for cryptographic key search applications is presented. This design exploits fine grain parallelism and the high memory bandwidth available in an FPGA (field programmable gate array) by integrating 95 simple processors and memory on a single FPGA chip. Performance is compared with a previously reported hardwired design on a RC4 key search application.