Design of an on-chip random number generator using metastability

This paper shows that the internal noise in a bistable exhibits a Gaussian distribution, and is close to the value expected from thermal agitation. We describe a random number generator based on this property that is capable of on chip integration, and is a primary source of high entropy data at 100MHz. The device is held close to metastability by a feedback loop, and is therefore relatively insensitive to circuit asymmetries and drift. Measurements of post-processed data from this source also show a relatively high bit rate and sequences of 2²³bits are shown to pass stringent tests for randomness.