This paper describes how to implement the new Advanced Encryption Standard (AES)
using a modular arithmetic crypto-coprocessor, typically used to speed up public-key crypto-systems.
This idea provides a fast and secure AES implementation when a dedicated hardware AES module is not available.
The advantages of using the modular arithmetic coprocessor when compared to a pure software implementation are:
- much higher execution performance,
- less memory usage, and
- optimized protection against side-channel attacks.
Keywords: AES, Crypto-Coprocessor, Implementation Issues, Secure Implementation.