Lots of Random B.S.

Posted Dec 2, 2012 2:03 UTC (Sun) by BrucePerens (guest, #2510)
Parent article: LCE: Don't play dice with random numbers

There is never, and can not possibly ever be, a need for a hardware random noise generator more complicated than a single diode junction followed by an appropriate detector. The avalanche phenomenon is quantum mechanical. Lava Lamp random number generators are toys to impress the technically naive. Gates with "impossible states" are not an improvement upon the diode.

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Lots of Random B.S.

Posted Dec 3, 2012 1:33 UTC (Mon) by rgmoore (✭ supporter ✭, #75) [Link]

I think the Intel crew give a good explanation for exactly why they want to use the system they do. It's a straight digital system that doesn't rely on any analog circuitry, so it easy to incorporate into a CPU without having to worry about the behavior of the circuit changing when you change fabrication process. It also looks like a dead simple design, so it may be easier to fabricate in practice than anything based on an avalanche diode.