From: lkcl <lkcl@web>
Date: Tue, 22 Mar 2022 13:15:53 +0000 (+0000)
Subject: (no commit message)
X-Git-Tag: opf_rfc_ls005_v1~2995
X-Git-Url: https://git.libre-soc.org/?a=commitdiff_plain;h=8048e58a47db900c0a36288249b804d74f654458;p=libreriscv.git

---

diff --git a/openpower/sv/bitmanip.mdwn b/openpower/sv/bitmanip.mdwn
index 8a9f75b4c..0f7a51a3f 100644
--- a/openpower/sv/bitmanip.mdwn
+++ b/openpower/sv/bitmanip.mdwn
@@ -584,6 +584,18 @@ further detailed and more precise explanations are provided below
   affect `GF(p^n)`'s mathematical shape, all that changes is the specific
   polynomials used to implement `GF(p^n)`.
 
+Many implementations and much of the literature do not make a clear
+distinction between these three categories, which makes it confusing
+to understand what their purpose and value is.
+
+* carry-less multiply is extremely common and is used for the ubiquitous
+  CRC32 algorithm. [TODO add many others, helps justify to ISA WG]
+* GF(2^N) forms the basis of Rijndael (the current AES standard) and
+  has significant uses throughout cryptography
+* GF(p) is the basis again of a significant quantity of algorithms
+  (TODO, list them, jacob knows what they are), even though the
+  modulo is limited to be below 64-bit (size of a scalar int)
+
 # Instructions for Carry-less Operations
 
 aka. Polynomials with coefficients in `GF(2)`