Can secp256k1 be implemented efficiently on a 8-bit processor and very limited RAM?

We are trying to build a much simpler version of Trezor. We do have an finished PCB design from a previous project and would like to know whether this design can be modified, without changing the processor, to sign Bitcoin transactions. The current processor is a TI CC2540. Is it possible to get a minimalistic secp256k1 implementation to run on it, or are we just out of luck?

cdecker

Posted 2013-10-03T13:07:58.990

Reputation: 7 878

Answers

I don't see why not. Most of what you need to do is just modular arithmetic with big integers (around 2^256). There's no obstruction to doing this on an 8-bit microprocessor, it just takes a few more instructions. You might even find some existing code for arbitrary-precision arithmetic. 256 bits is 32 bytes, so 8K of memory seems like plenty.

Nate Eldredge

Posted 2013-10-03T13:07:58.990

Reputation: 21 420

Asked: 2013-10-03T13:07:58.990

Viewed: 267 times

Active: 2013-10-04T19:09:35.863