High performance wrapper for CSPRNG arc4random(3)












0












$begingroup$


This function is a wrapper for arc4random(3), a cryptographic pseudo-random number generator on macOS and BSDs, but you can also get it by installing libbsd-devel on most Linux distros.



It serves the same purpose as arc4random_uniform(3), the official wrapper for arc4random(3), i.e. to generate a nonnegative random integer less than range.



static inline unsigned random_uniform(unsigned range) {
static uint32_t random_32b;
static uint32_t full_32b;

if (full_32b < range) {
random_32b = arc4random();
full_32b = UINT32_MAX;
}

unsigned result = random_32b % range;
random_32b /= range;
full_32b /= range;

return result;
}


You can find the implementation of arc4random_uniform(3) on macOS at the bottom of this page. Basically, it makes use of the rejection method to produce uniform deviates and eliminate the modulo bias. On the other hand, my implementation tries to eliminate the modulo bias by keeping track of the maximum possible range of the remaining random bytes in full_32b. What's more, it saves the unused random bytes in a static variable for future use, as a call to arc4random(3) can be costly. It appears to be faster according to my benchmark, but I'm not sure if it's correct.









share











$endgroup$

















    0












    $begingroup$


    This function is a wrapper for arc4random(3), a cryptographic pseudo-random number generator on macOS and BSDs, but you can also get it by installing libbsd-devel on most Linux distros.



    It serves the same purpose as arc4random_uniform(3), the official wrapper for arc4random(3), i.e. to generate a nonnegative random integer less than range.



    static inline unsigned random_uniform(unsigned range) {
    static uint32_t random_32b;
    static uint32_t full_32b;

    if (full_32b < range) {
    random_32b = arc4random();
    full_32b = UINT32_MAX;
    }

    unsigned result = random_32b % range;
    random_32b /= range;
    full_32b /= range;

    return result;
    }


    You can find the implementation of arc4random_uniform(3) on macOS at the bottom of this page. Basically, it makes use of the rejection method to produce uniform deviates and eliminate the modulo bias. On the other hand, my implementation tries to eliminate the modulo bias by keeping track of the maximum possible range of the remaining random bytes in full_32b. What's more, it saves the unused random bytes in a static variable for future use, as a call to arc4random(3) can be costly. It appears to be faster according to my benchmark, but I'm not sure if it's correct.









    share











    $endgroup$















      0












      0








      0





      $begingroup$


      This function is a wrapper for arc4random(3), a cryptographic pseudo-random number generator on macOS and BSDs, but you can also get it by installing libbsd-devel on most Linux distros.



      It serves the same purpose as arc4random_uniform(3), the official wrapper for arc4random(3), i.e. to generate a nonnegative random integer less than range.



      static inline unsigned random_uniform(unsigned range) {
      static uint32_t random_32b;
      static uint32_t full_32b;

      if (full_32b < range) {
      random_32b = arc4random();
      full_32b = UINT32_MAX;
      }

      unsigned result = random_32b % range;
      random_32b /= range;
      full_32b /= range;

      return result;
      }


      You can find the implementation of arc4random_uniform(3) on macOS at the bottom of this page. Basically, it makes use of the rejection method to produce uniform deviates and eliminate the modulo bias. On the other hand, my implementation tries to eliminate the modulo bias by keeping track of the maximum possible range of the remaining random bytes in full_32b. What's more, it saves the unused random bytes in a static variable for future use, as a call to arc4random(3) can be costly. It appears to be faster according to my benchmark, but I'm not sure if it's correct.









      share











      $endgroup$




      This function is a wrapper for arc4random(3), a cryptographic pseudo-random number generator on macOS and BSDs, but you can also get it by installing libbsd-devel on most Linux distros.



      It serves the same purpose as arc4random_uniform(3), the official wrapper for arc4random(3), i.e. to generate a nonnegative random integer less than range.



      static inline unsigned random_uniform(unsigned range) {
      static uint32_t random_32b;
      static uint32_t full_32b;

      if (full_32b < range) {
      random_32b = arc4random();
      full_32b = UINT32_MAX;
      }

      unsigned result = random_32b % range;
      random_32b /= range;
      full_32b /= range;

      return result;
      }


      You can find the implementation of arc4random_uniform(3) on macOS at the bottom of this page. Basically, it makes use of the rejection method to produce uniform deviates and eliminate the modulo bias. On the other hand, my implementation tries to eliminate the modulo bias by keeping track of the maximum possible range of the remaining random bytes in full_32b. What's more, it saves the unused random bytes in a static variable for future use, as a call to arc4random(3) can be costly. It appears to be faster according to my benchmark, but I'm not sure if it's correct.







      performance beginner c random cryptography





      share














      share












      share



      share








      edited 2 mins ago







      nalzok

















      asked 7 mins ago









      nalzoknalzok

      286212




      286212






















          0






          active

          oldest

          votes











          Your Answer





          StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
          return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
          StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
          StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["\$", "\$"]]);
          });
          });
          }, "mathjax-editing");

          StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
          StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function () {
          StackExchange.using("snippets", function () {
          StackExchange.snippets.init();
          });
          });
          }, "code-snippets");

          StackExchange.ready(function() {
          var channelOptions = {
          tags: "".split(" "),
          id: "196"
          };
          initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

          StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
          // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
          if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
          StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
          createEditor();
          });
          }
          else {
          createEditor();
          }
          });

          function createEditor() {
          StackExchange.prepareEditor({
          heartbeatType: 'answer',
          autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
          convertImagesToLinks: false,
          noModals: true,
          showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
          reputationToPostImages: null,
          bindNavPrevention: true,
          postfix: "",
          imageUploader: {
          brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
          contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
          allowUrls: true
          },
          onDemand: true,
          discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
          ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
          });


          }
          });














          draft saved

          draft discarded


















          StackExchange.ready(
          function () {
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fcodereview.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f215810%2fhigh-performance-wrapper-for-csprng-arc4random3%23new-answer', 'question_page');
          }
          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown

























          0






          active

          oldest

          votes








          0






          active

          oldest

          votes









          active

          oldest

          votes






          active

          oldest

          votes
















          draft saved

          draft discarded




















































          Thanks for contributing an answer to Code Review Stack Exchange!


          • Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!

          But avoid



          • Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.

          • Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.


          Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.


          To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.




          draft saved


          draft discarded














          StackExchange.ready(
          function () {
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fcodereview.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f215810%2fhigh-performance-wrapper-for-csprng-arc4random3%23new-answer', 'question_page');
          }
          );

          Post as a guest















          Required, but never shown





















































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown

































          Required, but never shown














          Required, but never shown












          Required, but never shown







          Required, but never shown







          Popular posts from this blog

          Сан-Квентин

          8-я гвардейская общевойсковая армия

          Алькесар