On statistical tests for randomness included in the NIST SP800-22 test suite and based on the binomial distribution

Fabio Pareschi, Riccardo Rovatti, Gianluca Setti

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

135 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this paper we review some statistical tests included in the NIST SP 800-22 suite, which is a collection of tests for the evaluation of both true-random (physical) and pseudorandom (algorithmic) number generators for cryptographic applications. The output of these tests is the so-called p-value which is a random variable whose distribution converges to the uniform distribution in the interval [0,1] when testing an increasing number of samples from an ideal generator. Here, we compute the exact non-asymptotic distribution of p-values produced by few of the tests in the suite, and propose some computation-friendly approximations. This allows us to explain why intensive testing produces false-positives with a probability much higher than the expected one when considering asymptotic distribution instead of the true one. We also propose a new approximation for the Spectral Test reference distribution, which is more coherent with experimental results. © 2006 IEEE.
Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)491-505
Number of pages15
JournalIEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security
Volume7
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 1 2012
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality

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