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Information about Pinwheel (cryptography)

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The German Lorenz cipher machine contained 12 pinwheels, with a total of 501 pins
In cryptography, a pinwheel was a device for producing a short pseudorandom sequence of bits (determined by the machine's initial settings), as a component in a cipher machine. A pinwheel consisted of a rotating wheel with a certain number of positions on its periphery. Each position had a "pin" or "lug" which could be either "set" or "unset". As the wheel rotated, each of these pins would in turn affect other parts of the machine, producing a series of "on" or "off" pulses which would repeat after one full rotation of the wheel. If the machine contained more than one wheel, usually their periods would be relatively prime to maximize the combined period.

Pinwheels might be turned through a purely mechanical action (as in the M-209) or electromechanically (as in the Lorenz SZ 40/42). Other cipher machines which used pinwheels include the C-52, the CD-57 and the Siemens and Halske T52.

Pinwheels can be viewed as a predecessor to the electronic linear feedback shift register (LFSR), used in later cryptosystems.

See also

Cipher machines
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Rotor machines: CCM | Enigma | Fialka | Hebern | HX-63 | KL-7 | Lacida | M-325 | Mercury | NEMA | OMI | Portex | SIGABA | SIGCUM | Singlet | Typex
Mechanical: Bazeries cylinder | C-36 | C-52 | CD-57 | Cipher disk | HC-9 | Kryha | Jefferson disk | M-94 | M-209 | Reihenschieber | Scytale
Teleprinter: 5-UCO | BID 770 | KW-26 | KW-37 | Lorenz SZ 40/42 | Siemens and Halske T52
Secure voice: KY-3 | KY-57 | KY-58 | KY-68 | OMNI | SIGSALY | STE | STU-II | STU-III | VINSON | SCIP | Sectra Secure Module
Miscellaneous: Cryptex | JADE | KG-84 | KL-43 | Noreen | PURPLE | Pinwheel | Rockex
Cryptography
 •  • [ e]
History of cryptography | Cryptanalysis | | Topics in cryptography
Symmetric-key algorithm | Block cipher | Stream cipher | Public-key cryptography | Cryptographic hash function | Message authentication code | Random numbers
Cryptography (or cryptology; derived from Greek κρυπτός kryptós "hidden," and the verb γράφω gráfo "write" or λεγειν legein
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A pseudorandom process is a process that appears random but is not. Pseudorandom sequences typically exhibit statistical randomness while being generated by an entirely deterministic causal process.
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BIT is an acronym for:
  • Bannari amman Institute of Technology
  • Bangalore Institute of Technology
  • Beijing Institute of Technology
  • Benzisothiazolinone
  • Bilateral Investment Treaty
  • Bhilai Institute of Technology - Durg

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In mathematics, the integers a and b are said to be coprime or relatively prime if they have no common factor other than 1 and −1, or equivalently, if their greatest common divisor is 1.
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In cryptography, the M-209, designated CSP-1500 by the Navy (C-38 by the manufacturer) is a portable, mechanical cipher machine used by the US military primarily in World War II, though it remained in active use through the Korean War.
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In engineering, electromechanics combines the sciences of electromagnetism of electrical engineering and mechanics. Mechatronics is the discipline of engineering that combines mechanics, electronics and information technology (software engineering).
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Lorenz SZ 40 and SZ 42 (Schlüsselzusatz, meaning "cipher attachment") were German cipher machines used during World War II for teleprinter circuits. British codebreakers, who referred to encrypted German teleprinter traffic as "Fish", termed the machine and its
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(Hagelin) C-52 and CX-52 were cipher machines manufactured by Crypto AG starting 1951/1952. These pin-and-lug type cipher machines were advanced successors of the C-38/M-209. The machine measures 8 1/2in × 5 3/8in × 4 3/8in.
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The (Hagelin) CD-57 was a portable, mechanical cipher machine manufactured by Crypto AG, first produced in 1957 (1). It was derived from the earlier CD-55, and was designed to be compatible with the larger C-52 machines.
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Siemens and Halske T52, also known as the Geheimfernschreiber ("secret teleprinter"), or Schlüsselfernschreibmaschine (SFM), was a World War II German teleprinter cipher machine. The machine and its traffic were codenamed Sturgeon by British cryptanalysts.
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A linear feedback shift register (LFSR) is a shift register whose input bit is a linear function of its previous state.

The only linear functions of single bits are xor and inverse-xor; thus it is a shift register whose input bit is driven by the exclusive-or (xor) of some
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rotor machine is an electro-mechanical device used for encrypting and decrypting secret messages. Rotor machines were the cryptographic state-of-the-art for a brief but prominent period of history; they were in widespread use in the 1930s–1950s.
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rotor machine is an electro-mechanical device used for encrypting and decrypting secret messages. Rotor machines were the cryptographic state-of-the-art for a brief but prominent period of history; they were in widespread use in the 1930s–1950s.
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Combined Cipher Machine (CCM) (or Combined Cypher Machine) was a common cipher machine system for securing Allied communications during World War II and for a few years after amongst NATO.
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Enigma cipher machine
  • Enigma machine
  • Enigma rotor details
  • Cryptanalysis of the Enigma
  • Cyclometer

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Fialka (M-125) is the name of a Cold War-era Soviet cipher machine. A rotor machine, the device uses 10 rotors, each with 30 contacts along with mechanical pins to control stepping. It also makes use of a punch card mechanism. "Fialka" means "violet" in Russian.
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The Hebern Rotor Machine was an electro-mechanical encryption machine built by combining the mechanical parts of a standard typewriter with the electrical parts of an electric typewriter, connecting the two through a scrambler.
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HX-63 was an advanced rotor machine designed by Crypto AG, who started the design in 1952. The machine had nine rotors, each with 41 contacts. There were 26 keyboard inputs and outputs, leaving 15 wires to "loop back" through the rotors via a different path.
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The TSEC/KL-7, code named ADONIS, was a rotor machine encryption system introduced in the 1950s by the U.S. National Security Agency. It had eight rotors, seven of which moved in a complex pattern. The non-moving rotor was in the middle of the stack.
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The Lacida (or LCD) was a rotor cipher machine designed before World War II by the Polish Cipher Bureau for wartime use by Polish higher commands. Its name derived from the initials of Gwido Langer, Maksymilian Ci
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M-325, also known as SIGFOY, was an American rotor machine designed by William F. Friedman in 1936. Between 1944 and 1946, more than 1,100 machines were deployed within the United States Foreign Service. Its use was discontinued in 1946 because of faults in operation.
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Mercury was a British cipher machine used by the Air Ministry from 1950 until at least the early 1960s. Mercury was an online rotor machine descended from Typex, but modified to achieve a longer cycle length using a so-called double-drum basket system.
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NEMA (NEue MAschine) ("new machine"), also designated the T-D (Tasten-Druecker-Maschine) ("key-stroke machine"), was a 10-wheel rotor machine designed by the Swiss Army during World War II as a replacement for their Enigma machines.
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OMI cryptograph was a rotor cipher machine produced and sold by Italian firm Ottico Meccanica Italiana (OMI) in Rome.

The machine had seven rotors, including a reflecting rotor. The rotors stepped regularly.
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Portex (or BID/50/1) was a British cipher machine. A rotor machine, the device used eight rotors each with a tyre ring and an insert. The machine was used mainly by the secret services from the late 1940s to the early 1950s.
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ECM Mark II was a rotor machine used by the United States from World War II (WWII) until the 1950s. The machine was also known as the SIGABA or Converter M-134 by the Army, or CSP-888/889 by the Navy, and a modified Navy version was termed the CSP-2900.
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SIGCUM, also known as Converter M-228, was a rotor cipher machine used to encrypt teletype traffic by the United States Army. Hastily designed by William Friedman and Frank Rowlett, the system was put into service in January 1943 before any rigorous analysis of its security
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BID/60 (Singlet) was a British encryption machine. It was used by the British intelligence services from around 1949 or 1950 onwards. The system is a rotor machine, and would appear to have used 10 rotors.
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Typex (alternatively, Type X or TypeX) machines were British cipher machines used from 1937. It was an adaptation of the commercial German Enigma with a number of enhancements that greatly increased its security.
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The Jefferson disk is a cipher system using 26 wheels, each with the letters of the alphabet arranged randomly around them. First invented by Thomas Jefferson in 1795, it did not become well-known and was independently invented by Commandant Etienne Bazeries, the conqueror of the
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