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US 2013/0086136 A1Published application
Adding entropy for improved random number generation in a computer system
AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation
InventorsTodd A. Inglett, Andrew T. Tauferner
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A parallel computer system adds entropy to improve the quality of random number generation by using parity errors as a source of entropy because parity errors are influenced by external forces such as cosmic ray bombardment, alpha particle emission, and other random or near-random events. By using parity errors and associated information to generate entropy, the quality of random number generation in a parallel computer system is increased.
Claims7
A computer implemented method for a software agent to receive a random number, the method comprising the steps of:
- (A) providing a parallel computer system comprising a plurality of nodes, each node comprising a memory;
- (B) detecting at least one parity error in at least one of the memories in the plurality of nodes;
- (C) using the at least one parity error to add entropy to an entropy pool;
- (D) using the entropy pool to generate a random number;
- and
- (E) the software agent receiving the generated random number and transforming the generated random number to a form usable by the software agent.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.