Publisher's Synopsis
DRAFT May 2019
A randomness beacon produces timed output so fresh public randomness. Each output, called a pulse, also includes metadata and cryptographic elements to support several security and usability features. This document specifies a reference "version2" of a format for pulses and of a protocol for beacon operations. The main goal of the description is to serve as a baseline for the deployment of numerous interoperable beacons, including the NIST Beacon. In the proposed reference, a Beacon periodically outputs a pulse containing 512 fresh random bits, time-stamped, signed and hash-chained. For example, each pulse also pre-commits to the randomness to be released in the next pulse. The latter enables users to securely combine randomness from different beacons. The Beacon protocol also specifies the interface for users to interact with the Beacon, in order to obtain information about past pulses.
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