What does W7 in 'W7 stream cipher' stand for?

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In summary, the W7 cipher is a stream cipher or key stream generator that is likely named after the two main authors who conducted research at Wave7 Optics Inc. It may also refer to the wave and 7-bit length used in the cipher.
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Fiona Rozario
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The W7 is a stream cipher or a key stream generator. What does W7 stand for?
 
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Fiona Rozario said:
The W7 is a stream cipher or a key stream generator. What does W7 stand for?
Here's the original paper:
https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-thomas-w7cipher-01

So maybe it is W for wave and 7 for its bit length ##2^7=128##. But more likely is, that it is due to the fact that two main authors (Thomas and Anthony) did their research under Wave7 Optics Inc. (cp. http://www.manta.com/c/mbyckx0/wave7-optics-inc [Broken] and http://www.techonline.com/directory/wave7-optics). Maybe both sevens are of the same origin though. However, it looks a bit like a thing of the past.
 
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Thanks a lot!
 

1. What does the "W7" in "W7 stream cipher" stand for?

The "W7" in "W7 stream cipher" stands for "Wheatstone 7". This refers to the Wheatstone bridge, which is a type of electrical circuit that inspired the design of the W7 stream cipher.

2. Who created the W7 stream cipher?

The W7 stream cipher was created by physicist Claude Shannon in 1949. It was his first attempt at creating a stream cipher, and it served as the foundation for modern stream ciphers.

3. How does the W7 stream cipher work?

The W7 stream cipher works by using a feedback shift register (FSR) to generate a sequence of bits, which are then combined with the plaintext using a bitwise XOR operation. The FSR is updated with each bit produced, creating a stream of pseudorandom bits that are used to encrypt the plaintext.

4. Is the W7 stream cipher still used today?

No, the W7 stream cipher is not used today. It was considered secure in its time, but it has since been broken and is no longer considered a secure encryption method. However, it played a significant role in the development of modern stream ciphers.

5. What are the advantages of using a stream cipher like W7?

One advantage of using a stream cipher like W7 is that it allows for faster encryption and decryption of large amounts of data compared to block ciphers. It also has a smaller code size, making it more efficient for use in constrained environments, such as embedded systems.

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