KRYPTOGRAPHISCHES VERFAHREN UND VORRICHTUNG MIT ELEKTRONISCH WIEDERVERWENDBAREM ALGORITHMUS

摘要

A cryptographic apparatus for encrypting and decrypting digital words includes a mechanism that permits a cipher algorithm to be electronically stored after the manufacture of the apparatus. The storing mechanism includes at least one electrically erasable, programmable gate array containing a portion of the cipher algorithm and at least one random access memory device coupled to the array for storing digital data generated by the algorithm. A mechanism which is coupled to the gate array and memory device controls the execution of the algorithm for each digital word thereby decrypting encrypted digital words and encrypting non-encrypted digital words.