The purpose of this posting is to test and compare the quality of the random numbers generated by a SwiftRNG Pro device and those generated by PRNG (pseudorandom number generator) implementations available on Linux operating systems. In Linux-like operating systems, /dev/urandom is a special file that serves as a PRNG.
For our tests we used a /dev/urandom file available on a computer running CentOS 7 and a SwiftRNG Pro device plugged into one of the USB ports available on the same computer. The tests were performed by sampling 120 GB of random data from SwiftRNG Pro device with no ‘conditioning’ and from /dev/urandom. The sampled random data blocks were used to feed the ‘rngtest’ test suite for statistical analysis. We also tested SwiftRNG Pro and /dev/urandom random streams using the ‘dieharder’ test suite.
Testing with ‘rngtest’
The following charts represent comparison test results produced by ‘rngtest’. We are interested in the total number of FIPS 140-2 test failures and number of failures for each FIPS 140-2 specific test.
‘rngtest’ Conclusion
The total number of FIPS 140-2 failures was slightly higher for /dev/urandom compared to FIPS 140-2 failures for SwiftRNG Pro. SwiftRNG Pro produced less failures for FIPS 140-2 ‘Runs’, ‘Long Run’ and ‘Continuous Run’ tests while /dev/urandom produced less failures for FIPS 140-2 ‘Monobit’ and ‘Poker’ tests.
Testing with ‘dieharder’
The following are test results generated by ‘dieharder’ when testing random byte stream produced by SwiftRNG Pro device with no ‘conditioning’:
swrng -dd -fn STDOUT | dieharder -g 200 -a
#=============================================================================#
# dieharder version 3.31.1 Copyright 2003 Robert G. Brown #
#=============================================================================#
rng_name |rands/second| Seed |
stdin_input_raw| 5.52e+06 | 204447751|
#=============================================================================#
test_name |ntup| tsamples |psamples| p-value |Assessment
#=============================================================================#
diehard_birthdays| 0| 100| 100|0.23189457| PASSED
diehard_operm5| 0| 1000000| 100|0.75095612| PASSED
diehard_rank_32x32| 0| 40000| 100|0.96073461| PASSED
diehard_rank_6x8| 0| 100000| 100|0.93232326| PASSED
diehard_bitstream| 0| 2097152| 100|0.32747213| PASSED
diehard_opso| 0| 2097152| 100|0.74231200| PASSED
diehard_oqso| 0| 2097152| 100|0.09245298| PASSED
diehard_dna| 0| 2097152| 100|0.30959114| PASSED
diehard_count_1s_str| 0| 256000| 100|0.86246827| PASSED
diehard_count_1s_byt| 0| 256000| 100|0.33426616| PASSED
diehard_parking_lot| 0| 12000| 100|0.33358085| PASSED
diehard_2dsphere| 2| 8000| 100|0.45323736| PASSED
diehard_3dsphere| 3| 4000| 100|0.68247073| PASSED
diehard_squeeze| 0| 100000| 100|0.04045060| PASSED
diehard_sums| 0| 100| 100|0.15998991| PASSED
diehard_runs| 0| 100000| 100|0.20507955| PASSED
diehard_runs| 0| 100000| 100|0.81059682| PASSED
diehard_craps| 0| 200000| 100|0.04558382| PASSED
diehard_craps| 0| 200000| 100|0.45402435| PASSED
marsaglia_tsang_gcd| 0| 10000000| 100|0.62754383| PASSED
marsaglia_tsang_gcd| 0| 10000000| 100|0.53365537| PASSED
sts_monobit| 1| 100000| 100|0.07245620| PASSED
sts_runs| 2| 100000| 100|0.49969326| PASSED
sts_serial| 1| 100000| 100|0.50668731| PASSED
sts_serial| 2| 100000| 100|0.87844642| PASSED
sts_serial| 3| 100000| 100|0.99987535| WEAK
sts_serial| 3| 100000| 100|0.96930487| PASSED
sts_serial| 4| 100000| 100|0.50879386| PASSED
sts_serial| 4| 100000| 100|0.22925809| PASSED
sts_serial| 5| 100000| 100|0.41114562| PASSED
sts_serial| 5| 100000| 100|0.85418243| PASSED
sts_serial| 6| 100000| 100|0.52907030| PASSED
sts_serial| 6| 100000| 100|0.79775328| PASSED
sts_serial| 7| 100000| 100|0.25207091| PASSED
sts_serial| 7| 100000| 100|0.45934295| PASSED
sts_serial| 8| 100000| 100|0.44472162| PASSED
sts_serial| 8| 100000| 100|0.54690406| PASSED
sts_serial| 9| 100000| 100|0.75462311| PASSED
sts_serial| 9| 100000| 100|0.59246043| PASSED
sts_serial| 10| 100000| 100|0.65093398| PASSED
sts_serial| 10| 100000| 100|0.36015871| PASSED
sts_serial| 11| 100000| 100|0.83071639| PASSED
sts_serial| 11| 100000| 100|0.99480125| PASSED
sts_serial| 12| 100000| 100|0.88728666| PASSED
sts_serial| 12| 100000| 100|0.84685621| PASSED
sts_serial| 13| 100000| 100|0.44996132| PASSED
sts_serial| 13| 100000| 100|0.84783628| PASSED
sts_serial| 14| 100000| 100|0.54973990| PASSED
sts_serial| 14| 100000| 100|0.98901587| PASSED
sts_serial| 15| 100000| 100|0.92734287| PASSED
sts_serial| 15| 100000| 100|0.74516197| PASSED
sts_serial| 16| 100000| 100|0.65420669| PASSED
sts_serial| 16| 100000| 100|0.91095922| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 1| 100000| 100|0.28196469| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 2| 100000| 100|0.20311887| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 3| 100000| 100|0.83371006| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 4| 100000| 100|0.97918552| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 5| 100000| 100|0.33633146| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 6| 100000| 100|0.45049719| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 7| 100000| 100|0.84676874| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 8| 100000| 100|0.18405803| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 9| 100000| 100|0.17870007| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 10| 100000| 100|0.34093733| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 11| 100000| 100|0.98757745| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 12| 100000| 100|0.33608530| PASSED
rgb_minimum_distance| 2| 10000| 1000|0.40714300| PASSED
rgb_minimum_distance| 3| 10000| 1000|0.01359258| PASSED
rgb_minimum_distance| 4| 10000| 1000|0.40526430| PASSED
rgb_minimum_distance| 5| 10000| 1000|0.00015977| WEAK
rgb_permutations| 2| 100000| 100|0.42947333| PASSED
rgb_permutations| 3| 100000| 100|0.70231583| PASSED
rgb_permutations| 4| 100000| 100|0.14559228| PASSED
rgb_permutations| 5| 100000| 100|0.39820769| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 0| 1000000| 100|0.95478426| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 1| 1000000| 100|0.48808137| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 2| 1000000| 100|0.75232711| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 3| 1000000| 100|0.30510638| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 4| 1000000| 100|0.32466480| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 5| 1000000| 100|0.34657161| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 6| 1000000| 100|0.79797715| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 7| 1000000| 100|0.69093277| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 8| 1000000| 100|0.62220023| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 9| 1000000| 100|0.75880907| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 10| 1000000| 100|0.60912315| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 11| 1000000| 100|0.68534716| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 12| 1000000| 100|0.56160475| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 13| 1000000| 100|0.50051735| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 14| 1000000| 100|0.03065363| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 15| 1000000| 100|0.46737147| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 16| 1000000| 100|0.96676303| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 17| 1000000| 100|0.63337053| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 18| 1000000| 100|0.62142304| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 19| 1000000| 100|0.04809293| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 20| 1000000| 100|0.71276787| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 21| 1000000| 100|0.78284283| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 22| 1000000| 100|0.39360698| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 23| 1000000| 100|0.06632147| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 24| 1000000| 100|0.79035290| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 25| 1000000| 100|0.22745596| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 26| 1000000| 100|0.98940777| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 27| 1000000| 100|0.59552952| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 28| 1000000| 100|0.76529954| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 29| 1000000| 100|0.96033546| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 30| 1000000| 100|0.34793801| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 31| 1000000| 100|0.56710980| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 32| 1000000| 100|0.87580841| PASSED
rgb_kstest_test| 0| 10000| 1000|0.59457755| PASSED
dab_bytedistrib| 0| 51200000| 1|0.26956602| PASSED
dab_dct| 256| 50000| 1|0.43445042| PASSED
Preparing to run test 207. ntuple = 0
dab_filltree| 32| 15000000| 1|0.95997359| PASSED
dab_filltree| 32| 15000000| 1|0.69594477| PASSED
Preparing to run test 208. ntuple = 0
dab_filltree2| 0| 5000000| 1|0.69858902| PASSED
dab_filltree2| 1| 5000000| 1|0.76921713| PASSED
Preparing to run test 209. ntuple = 0
dab_monobit2| 12| 65000000| 1|0.85449699| PASSED
The following are test results generated by ‘dieharder’ when testing random byte stream produced by /dev/urandom:
dd if=/dev/urandom bs=12000000 | dieharder -g 200 -a
#=============================================================================#
# dieharder version 3.31.1 Copyright 2003 Robert G. Brown #
#=============================================================================#
rng_name |rands/second| Seed |
stdin_input_raw| 3.06e+07 |2868936241|
#=============================================================================#
test_name |ntup| tsamples |psamples| p-value |Assessment
#=============================================================================#
diehard_birthdays| 0| 100| 100|0.95387771| PASSED
diehard_operm5| 0| 1000000| 100|0.92560719| PASSED
diehard_rank_32x32| 0| 40000| 100|0.98066045| PASSED
diehard_rank_6x8| 0| 100000| 100|0.20597070| PASSED
diehard_bitstream| 0| 2097152| 100|0.91045462| PASSED
diehard_opso| 0| 2097152| 100|0.63316244| PASSED
diehard_oqso| 0| 2097152| 100|0.93774044| PASSED
diehard_dna| 0| 2097152| 100|0.41448575| PASSED
diehard_count_1s_str| 0| 256000| 100|0.57649363| PASSED
diehard_count_1s_byt| 0| 256000| 100|0.10827822| PASSED
diehard_parking_lot| 0| 12000| 100|0.79252967| PASSED
diehard_2dsphere| 2| 8000| 100|0.04975508| PASSED
diehard_3dsphere| 3| 4000| 100|0.99585638| WEAK
diehard_squeeze| 0| 100000| 100|0.24753753| PASSED
diehard_sums| 0| 100| 100|0.05653317| PASSED
diehard_runs| 0| 100000| 100|0.11453525| PASSED
diehard_runs| 0| 100000| 100|0.19585625| PASSED
diehard_craps| 0| 200000| 100|0.45638793| PASSED
diehard_craps| 0| 200000| 100|0.31591645| PASSED
marsaglia_tsang_gcd| 0| 10000000| 100|0.06850479| PASSED
marsaglia_tsang_gcd| 0| 10000000| 100|0.81649089| PASSED
sts_monobit| 1| 100000| 100|0.99831362| WEAK
sts_runs| 2| 100000| 100|0.47933569| PASSED
sts_serial| 1| 100000| 100|0.15918179| PASSED
sts_serial| 2| 100000| 100|0.01980393| PASSED
sts_serial| 3| 100000| 100|0.26391074| PASSED
sts_serial| 3| 100000| 100|0.93825883| PASSED
sts_serial| 4| 100000| 100|0.48042579| PASSED
sts_serial| 4| 100000| 100|0.94648402| PASSED
sts_serial| 5| 100000| 100|0.88404757| PASSED
sts_serial| 5| 100000| 100|0.63829590| PASSED
sts_serial| 6| 100000| 100|0.87264060| PASSED
sts_serial| 6| 100000| 100|0.99025369| PASSED
sts_serial| 7| 100000| 100|0.52913922| PASSED
sts_serial| 7| 100000| 100|0.20699735| PASSED
sts_serial| 8| 100000| 100|0.51858724| PASSED
sts_serial| 8| 100000| 100|0.93935828| PASSED
sts_serial| 9| 100000| 100|0.89045694| PASSED
sts_serial| 9| 100000| 100|0.97967948| PASSED
sts_serial| 10| 100000| 100|0.82805945| PASSED
sts_serial| 10| 100000| 100|0.94576847| PASSED
sts_serial| 11| 100000| 100|0.87463478| PASSED
sts_serial| 11| 100000| 100|0.41233150| PASSED
sts_serial| 12| 100000| 100|0.82320320| PASSED
sts_serial| 12| 100000| 100|0.64700388| PASSED
sts_serial| 13| 100000| 100|0.91421216| PASSED
sts_serial| 13| 100000| 100|0.71090170| PASSED
sts_serial| 14| 100000| 100|0.30674023| PASSED
sts_serial| 14| 100000| 100|0.67525020| PASSED
sts_serial| 15| 100000| 100|0.63952330| PASSED
sts_serial| 15| 100000| 100|0.55714580| PASSED
sts_serial| 16| 100000| 100|0.73460968| PASSED
sts_serial| 16| 100000| 100|0.69422309| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 1| 100000| 100|0.22341428| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 2| 100000| 100|0.08136192| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 3| 100000| 100|0.55014870| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 4| 100000| 100|0.14073467| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 5| 100000| 100|0.51289672| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 6| 100000| 100|0.57743763| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 7| 100000| 100|0.84468115| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 8| 100000| 100|0.91538369| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 9| 100000| 100|0.63104431| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 10| 100000| 100|0.79467241| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 11| 100000| 100|0.87835683| PASSED
rgb_bitdist| 12| 100000| 100|0.31145148| PASSED
rgb_minimum_distance| 2| 10000| 1000|0.24538060| PASSED
rgb_minimum_distance| 3| 10000| 1000|0.06060245| PASSED
rgb_minimum_distance| 4| 10000| 1000|0.52854808| PASSED
rgb_minimum_distance| 5| 10000| 1000|0.24081642| PASSED
rgb_permutations| 2| 100000| 100|0.79575115| PASSED
rgb_permutations| 3| 100000| 100|0.97655238| PASSED
rgb_permutations| 4| 100000| 100|0.72826877| PASSED
rgb_permutations| 5| 100000| 100|0.47653591| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 0| 1000000| 100|0.88292658| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 1| 1000000| 100|0.83634521| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 2| 1000000| 100|0.05969674| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 3| 1000000| 100|0.49726026| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 4| 1000000| 100|0.99815217| WEAK
rgb_lagged_sum| 5| 1000000| 100|0.60472621| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 6| 1000000| 100|0.57097784| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 7| 1000000| 100|0.80903695| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 8| 1000000| 100|0.14512311| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 9| 1000000| 100|0.91611538| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 10| 1000000| 100|0.92420750| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 11| 1000000| 100|0.60042568| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 12| 1000000| 100|0.13617953| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 13| 1000000| 100|0.24046263| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 14| 1000000| 100|0.92188587| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 15| 1000000| 100|0.28283582| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 16| 1000000| 100|0.93668554| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 17| 1000000| 100|0.84602342| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 18| 1000000| 100|0.47539708| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 19| 1000000| 100|0.91932322| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 20| 1000000| 100|0.22697424| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 21| 1000000| 100|0.86299916| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 22| 1000000| 100|0.44319686| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 23| 1000000| 100|0.49607458| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 24| 1000000| 100|0.64071058| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 25| 1000000| 100|0.67651856| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 26| 1000000| 100|0.05264378| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 27| 1000000| 100|0.52894581| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 28| 1000000| 100|0.23036343| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 29| 1000000| 100|0.08698878| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 30| 1000000| 100|0.91367390| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 31| 1000000| 100|0.50385001| PASSED
rgb_lagged_sum| 32| 1000000| 100|0.39512022| PASSED
rgb_kstest_test| 0| 10000| 1000|0.05304759| PASSED
dab_bytedistrib| 0| 51200000| 1|0.07108892| PASSED
dab_dct| 256| 50000| 1|0.06583399| PASSED
Preparing to run test 207. ntuple = 0
dab_filltree| 32| 15000000| 1|0.77425875| PASSED
dab_filltree| 32| 15000000| 1|0.10287529| PASSED
Preparing to run test 208. ntuple = 0
dab_filltree2| 0| 5000000| 1|0.64344940| PASSED
dab_filltree2| 1| 5000000| 1|0.13915721| PASSED
Preparing to run test 209. ntuple = 0
dab_monobit2| 12| 65000000| 1|0.55077431| PASSED
‘dieharder’ Conclusion
The total number of ‘dieharder’ ‘weak’ assessments was higher for /dev/urandom.