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A USB-pluggable hardware true random number generator. In computing, a hardware random number generator (HRNG), true random number generator (TRNG), non-deterministic random bit generator (NRBG), [1] or physical random number generator [2] [3] is a device that generates random numbers from a physical process capable of producing entropy (in other words, the device always has access to a ...
Random number generation is a process by which, often by means of a random number generator (RNG), a sequence of numbers or symbols that cannot be reasonably predicted better than by random chance is generated. This means that the particular outcome sequence will contain some patterns detectable in hindsight but impossible to foresee.
A few cryptographically secure pseudorandom number generators do not rely on cipher algorithms but try to link mathematically the difficulty of distinguishing their output from a `true' random stream to a computationally difficult problem. These approaches are theoretically important but are too slow to be practical in most applications.
Random numbers are frequently used in algorithms such as Knuth's 1964-developed algorithm [1] for shuffling lists. (popularly known as the Knuth shuffle or the Fisher–Yates shuffle, based on work they did in 1938). In 1999, a new feature was added to the Pentium III: a hardware-based random number generator.
Lavarand, also known as the Wall of Entropy, was a hardware random number generator designed by Silicon Graphics that worked by taking pictures of the patterns made by the floating material in lava lamps, extracting random data from the pictures, and using the result to seed a pseudorandom number generator. [1]
If one has a pseudo-random number generator whose output is "sufficiently difficult" to predict, one can generate true random numbers to use as the initial value (i.e., the seed), and then use the pseudo-random number generator to produce numbers for use in cryptographic applications.
Random.org (stylized as RANDOM.ORG) is a website that produces random numbers based on atmospheric noise. [1] In addition to generating random numbers in a specified range and subject to a specified probability distribution, which is the most commonly done activity on the site, it has free tools to simulate events such as flipping coins, shuffling cards, and rolling dice.
Many "random number generators" in use today are defined by algorithms, and so are actually pseudo-random number generators. The sequences they produce are called pseudo-random sequences. These generators do not always generate sequences which are sufficiently random, but instead can produce sequences which contain patterns.