Struct Pippenger 

pub struct Pippenger;

Implements a version of Pippenger’s algorithm.

The algorithm works as follows:

Let n be a number of point-scalar pairs. Let w be a window of bits (6..8, chosen based on n, see cost factor).

1. Prepare 2^(w-1) - 1 buckets with indices [1..2^(w-1)) initialized with identity points. Bucket 0 is not needed as it would contain points multiplied by 0.
2. Convert scalars to a radix-2^w representation with signed digits in [-2^w/2, 2^w/2]. Note: only the last digit may equal 2^w/2.
3. Starting with the last window, for each point i=[0..n) add it to a a bucket indexed by the point’s scalar’s value in the window.
4. Once all points in a window are sorted into buckets, add buckets by multiplying each by their index. Efficient way of doing it is to start with the last bucket and compute two sums: intermediate sum from the last to the first, and the full sum made of all intermediate sums.
5. Shift the resulting sum of buckets by w bits by using w doublings.
6. Add to the return value.
7. Repeat the loop.

Approximate cost w/o wNAF optimizations (A = addition, D = doubling):

cost = (n*A + 2*(2^w/2)*A + w*D + A)*256/w
         |          |       |     |   |
         |          |       |     |   looping over 256/w windows
         |          |       |     adding to the result
   sorting points   |       shifting the sum by w bits (to the next window, starting from last window)
   one by one       |
   into buckets     adding/subtracting all buckets
                    multiplied by their indexes
                    using a sum of intermediate sums

For large n, dominant factor is (n*256/w) additions. However, if w is too big and n is not too big, then (2^w/2)*A could dominate. Therefore, the optimal choice of w grows slowly as n grows.

This algorithm is adapted from section 4 of https://eprint.iacr.org/2012/549.pdf.

Trait Implementations

impl VartimeMultiscalarMul for Pippenger

type Point = EdwardsPoint

The type of point being multiplied, e.g., RistrettoPoint.

fn optional_multiscalar_mul<I, J>(scalars: I, points: J) -> Option<EdwardsPoint>

where I: IntoIterator, I::Item: Borrow<Scalar>, J: IntoIterator<Item = Option<EdwardsPoint>>,

Given an iterator of public scalars and an iterator of Options of points, compute either Some(Q), where $$ Q = c_1 P_1 + \cdots + c_n P_n, $$ if all points were Some(P_i), or else return None.

fn vartime_multiscalar_mul<I, J>(scalars: I, points: J) -> Self::Point

where I: IntoIterator, I::Item: Borrow<Scalar>, J: IntoIterator, J::Item: Borrow<Self::Point>, Self::Point: Clone,

Given an iterator of public scalars and an iterator of public points, compute $$ Q = c_1 P_1 + \cdots + c_n P_n, $$ using variable-time operations.