Case studies of performance evaluation of asymmetric and symmetric cryptographic algorithms for embedded systems

Embedded systems are associations between hardware and software, being usually part of a larger system with wireless communications. Therefore, it is important to guarantee a secure communication between these devices by ensuring the confidentiality of the exchanged information, which can be achieved through cryptography. Traditionally, security has not been considered a requirement in mobile embedded systems design and the application of security techniques to these devices is still incipient. This paper presents a performance evaluation analysis of symmetric and asymmetric cryptographic algorithms in embedded systems (namely RC2, AES, Blowfish, DES, 3DES, ECC and RSA). Memory usage, response time and power consumption are considered in the analysis. The results show that some symmetric and asymmetric algorithms such as Blowfish and ECC have a better performance in mobile embedded systems. Keywords— Cryptography, Embedded Systems, Wireless sensor network