The Black-Box Niederreiter Algorithm and its Implementation Over the Binary Field

The most time-consuming part of the Niederreiter algorithm for factoring univariate polynomials over finite fields is the computation of elements of the nullspace of a certain matrix. This paper describes the so-called "black-box" Niederreiter algorithm, in which these elements are found by using a method developed by Wiedemann. The main advantages over an approach based on Gaussian elimination are that the matrix does not have to be stored in memory and that the computational complexity of this approach is lower. The black-box Niederreiter algorithm for factoring polynomials over the binary field was implemented in the C programming language, and benchmarks for factoring high-degree polynomials over this field are presented. These benchmarks include timings for both a sequential implementation and a parallel implementation running on a small cluster of workstations. In addition, the Wan algorithm, which was recently introduced, is described, and connections between (implementation aspects of) Wan's and Niederreiter's algorithm are given.