Implementation of Serpent encryption algorithm on 24-bit DSP processor

Serpent is one of the AES (advanced encryption standard) candidates and it has been implemented on various 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit platforms. In this paper, we have investigated various implementation options of Serpent on 24-bit DSP and described specific issues of the 24-bit platform. Today's Digital Rights Management and secure audio distribution systems utilize 24-bit DSPs and therefore efficient implementation of the encryption algorithm on such platform is important.