Let p be an odd prime number. We define a family of quaternary sequences of period 2p using generalized cyclotomic classes over the residue class ring modulo 2p. We compute exact values of the linear complexity, which are larger than half of the period. Such sequences are 'good' enough from the viewpoint of linear complexity.

In this letter we introduce new generalized cyclotomic sequences of order two and length pq firstly, then we determine the linear complexity and autocorrelation values of these sequences. Our results show that these sequences are rather good from the linear complexity viewpoint.

Based on the cyclotomy classes of extension fields, a family of binary cyclotomic sequences are constructed and their pseudorandom measures (i.e., the well-distribution measure and the correlation measure of order k) are estimated using certain exponential sums. A lower bound on the linear complexity profile is also presented in terms of the correlation measure.

In 2017, Tang et al. provided a complete characterization of generalized bent functions from ℤ2n to ℤq(q = 2m) in terms of their component functions (IEEE Trans. Inf. Theory. vol.63, no.7, pp.4668-4674). In this letter, for a general even q, we aim to provide some characterizations and more constructions of generalized bent functions with flexible coefficients. Firstly, we present some sufficient conditions for a generalized Boolean function with at most three terms to be gbent. Based on these results, we give a positive answer to a remaining question proposed by Hodžić in 2015. We also prove that the sufficient conditions are also necessary in some special cases. However, these sufficient conditions whether they are also necessary, in general, is left as an open problem. Secondly, from a uniform point of view, we provide a secondary construction of gbent function, which includes several known constructions as special cases.

Some new generalized cyclotomic sequences defined by C. Ding and T. Helleseth are proven to exhibit a number of good randomness properties. In this paper, we determine the defining pairs of these sequences of length pm (p prime, m ≥ 2) with order two, then from which we obtain their trace representation. Thus their linear complexity can be derived using Key's method.

An upper bound is established for certain exponential sums on the rational points of an elliptic curve over a residue class ring ZN , N=pq for two distinct odd primes p and q. The result is a generalization of an estimate of exponential sums on rational point groups of elliptic curves over finite fields. The bound is applied to showing the pseudorandomness of a large family of binary sequences constructed by using elliptic curves over ZN .

We define a family of 2e+1-periodic binary threshold sequences and a family of p2-periodic binary threshold sequences by using Carmichael quotients modulo 2e (e > 2) and 2p (p is an odd prime), respectively. These are extensions of the construction derived from Fermat quotients modulo an odd prime in our earlier work. We determine exact values of the linear complexity, which are larger than half of the period. For cryptographic purpose, the linear complexities of the sequences in this letter are of desired values.

The linear complexity and its stability of periodic sequences are of fundamental importance as measure indexes on the security of stream ciphers and the k-error linear complexity reveals the stability of the linear complexity properly. Recently, Zhou designed an algorithm for computing the k-error linear complexity of 2pn periodic sequences over GF(q). In this paper, we develop a genetic algorithm to confirm that one can't get the real k-error linear complexity for some sequenes by the Zhou's algorithm. Analysis indicates that the Zhou's algorithm is unreasonable in some steps. The corrected algorithm is presented. Such algorithm will increase the amount of computation, but is necessary to get the real k-error linear complexity. Here p and q are odd prime, and q is a primitive root (mod p2).

The notion of the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), proposed by Guilley, et al. in 2004, is a property that attempts to characterize the resilience of (n, m)-functions F=(f1,...,fm) (cryptographic S-boxes) against differential power analysis. But how to study the signal-to-noise ratio for a Boolean function still appears to be an important direction. In this paper, we give a tight upper and tight lower bounds on SNR for any (balanced) Boolean function. We also deduce some tight upper bounds on SNR for balanced Boolean function satisfying propagation criterion. Moreover, we obtain a SNR relationship between an n-variable Boolean function and two (n-1)-variable decomposition functions. Meanwhile, we give SNR(f⊞g) and SNR(f⊡g) for any balanced Boolean functions f, g. Finally, we give a lower bound on SNR(F), which determined by SNR(fi) (1≤i≤m), for (n, m)-function F=(f1,f2,…,fm).

A new class of sextic residue sequences of period prime p=4u2+27=6f+1 ≡ 3 ( mod 8) are presented. Their trace function representations are determined. And the exact value of the linear complexity is derived from the trace function representations. The result indicates that the new sextic sequences are quite good from the linear complexity viewpoint.