Simontool: Simulation Support for the Simon Cipher

The Simon Cipher is a low complexity, symmetric cipher that was designed for pervasive computing applications, such as radio-frequency identification (RFID) and Internet of Things; however, there has not been a hardware implementation of the Simon Cipher that addresses the unique low-power and low-device count demands for RFID. We present a bit-serial hardware implementation guide and the simontool program, which facilitates design, simulation, and verification of a bit-serial implementations of the Simon Cipher by emulating an 1-bit hardware implementation in software. This software tool will enable RFID chip designers to incorporate cutting-edge encryption algorithms in their IC designs.