True Random Number Generation Via Sampling From Flat Band-Limited Gaussian Processes

Abstract

We consider a true random number generator based on regularly sampling a thresholded wide sense stationary Gaussian noise source of which power spectral density is assumed to be flat between two known frequencies and zero everywhere else. We employ per-sample joint entropy of the resulting bit sequence as the main figure of merit and present novel analytical results on the optimum choice of the sampling period that ensures maximal randomness of the resulting bit sequence together with numerical results. In addition, we provide new results that follow from autocorrelation function of the noise source and introduce a new related metric, termed “spectral correlation” to quantify the pairwise dependence among the generated bits.