ECLBC: A Lightweight Block Cipher With Error Detection and Correction Mechanisms

Lightweight block ciphers are proposed for Internet of Things (IoT) edge devices to ensure secure data transmission with limited resources. However, past research has been designed on ideal channel models, disregarding the possibility of ciphertext errors caused by channel interference during actual transmission. This omission poses difficulties in ensuring the reliability of the ciphertext, especially in the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) where resources are limited and data accuracy requirements are high. Designing a highly secure and reliable lightweight block cipher for such situations is one of the most challenging tasks. Hence, we propose a lightweight block cipher ECLBC with error detection and correction mechanisms. For security, ECLBC not only achieves a certain security level in fewer rounds but also achieves a mode transition within AND-rotation-XOR (AND-RX) lightweight block ciphers. This transition involves a shift from the Feistel to the substitution-permutation network (SPN) and from half-round key XOR to full-round key XOR. For reliability, ECLBC supports detecting and correcting erroneous ciphertext due to channel interference. Given the resource-constrained nature of IoMT devices, we implement the detection and correction mechanism of ECLBC based on the linear block code. Finally, various classical cryptography methods are employed to analyze the performance and security of the ECLBC.