Abstract:
The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for determining a remainder in a polynomial ring. The apparatus for determining a remainder in a polynomial ring according to the invention comprises a value buffer (18) for storing a polynomial value, a factor memory (8.1, 8.2) for storing factors and a polynomial multiply unit (1) connected to the factor memory (8.1, 8.2) for generating a polynomial product out of the factors and an input polynomial. The apparatus further comprises a matrix multiply unit (5) connected to the polynomial multiply unit for generating a reduced product with reduced polynomial degree by multiplying the polynomial product with a reduction matrix. Finally the apparatus includes a multiplexer means (13.1, 13.2, 17, 39.1, 39.2) for either conducting the reduced product or the polynomial value as the input polynomial to the to the polynomial multiply unit (1).