ASIC-hardware-focused comparison for hash functions MD5, RIPEMD-160, and SHS

Abstract

The hash functions MD5, RIPEMD-160, and SHA-1/224/256/384/512 were implemented by using a 0.13-μm CMOS standard cell library with two synthesis options, area and speed optimizations, and their performances were evaluated. The smallest circuit of 8.0 Kgates with a throughput of 929 Mbps, and the highest throughput of 2.9 Gbps with 27.3 Kgates were obtained for SHA-1 and SHA-384/512 respectively. In terms of overall performance with consideration of the security levels, we conclude that SHA-256 is the best algorithm, with compact circuits of 11.5-15.3 Kgates and high throughputs of 1.1 -2.4 Gbps. Our implementations also showed the highest throughputs for all of the hash functions in comparison with the state of the art. © 2005 IEEE.