Performance measurements › arm_1 › kem-30 · system: x86_1 · arm_1

kem-30 PolarLAC — performance on AArch64 (system arm_1)

Independent measurement following the structure of the NICCS ARM self-assessment guide, §3.5 (1)–(7). Not a submitter self-assessment.

1. Basic information

Category: public-key algorithm; function: key encapsulation
Algorithm: PolarLAC
Implementation versions measured: reference
Parameter sets: POLARLAC-128, POLARLAC-256, POLARLAC-512, POLARLAC-512-Star, POLARLAC-Light
Security evaluation: kem-30 report
Measurement method: arm_1 method
Submission: NICCS page

2. Assessment environment

item	value
processor	Qualcomm Oryon (CPU 2, one core)
machine	ASUS Vivobook S 15
clock	fixed 2.71 GHz (governor performance, minimum = maximum), boost off, SMT none
memory	30562 MiB
OS / kernel	Ubuntu 26.04.1 LTS / 7.0.0-34-generic
compiler / build tool	gcc (Ubuntu 15.2.0-16ubuntu1) 15.2.0 / cmake version 4.2.3
campaign start / end (UTC)	2026-09-28T15:05:46 / 2026-09-29T08:43:52

3. Functional testing (KAT)

Each library was checked against the submitted KAT vectors (SHA-256 manifest kem-30/kat.sha256 in the harness) before timing.

instance	build flags	KAT
`POLARLAC-128`	guide	PASS
`POLARLAC-256`	guide	PASS
`POLARLAC-512`	guide	PASS
`POLARLAC-512-Star`	guide	PASS
`POLARLAC-Light`	guide	PASS

4. Performance

instance	operation	mean cycles	mean time	ops/s	median trial	n (trials × iters)
`POLARLAC-128`	keygen	134.8 k	50 µs	2e+04	50 µs	51560 (5 × 10312)
`POLARLAC-128`	enc	176.6 k	65.5 µs	1.53e+04	65.2 µs	46605 (5 × 9321)
`POLARLAC-128`	dec	213.3 k	79.2 µs	1.26e+04	79.1 µs	38070 (5 × 7614)
`POLARLAC-256`	keygen	236.6 k	87.8 µs	1.14e+04	87 µs	31190 (5 × 6238)
`POLARLAC-256`	enc	327.6 k	122 µs	8.23e+03	121 µs	25290 (5 × 5058)
`POLARLAC-256`	dec	407.6 k	151 µs	6.61e+03	151 µs	20325 (5 × 4065)
`POLARLAC-512`	keygen	826.9 k	307 µs	3.26e+03	307 µs	9820 (5 × 1964)
`POLARLAC-512`	enc	1.12 M	415 µs	2.41e+03	414 µs	7595 (5 × 1519)
`POLARLAC-512`	dec	1.34 M	498 µs	2.01e+03	498 µs	5915 (5 × 1183)
`POLARLAC-512-Star`	keygen	809.2 k	300 µs	3.33e+03	300 µs	9930 (5 × 1986)
`POLARLAC-512-Star`	enc	1.10 M	407 µs	2.46e+03	406 µs	7285 (5 × 1457)
`POLARLAC-512-Star`	dec	1.31 M	487 µs	2.06e+03	487 µs	6440 (5 × 1288)
`POLARLAC-Light`	keygen	124.4 k	46.2 µs	2.17e+04	46 µs	56940 (5 × 11388)
`POLARLAC-Light`	enc	162.8 k	60.4 µs	1.66e+04	60.2 µs	50745 (5 × 10149)
`POLARLAC-Light`	dec	197.7 k	73.3 µs	1.36e+04	73.3 µs	41135 (5 × 8227)

5. Resource consumption

Static memory is approximated by the library's loadable ELF segments; peak memory is the process high-water mark (VmHWM) including the benchmark driver and libc, so both are upper-bound proxies rather than isolated algorithm memory.

instance	operation	static: ELF image (bytes)	baseline RSS	peak RSS
`POLARLAC-128`	keygen	49940	1440 KiB	1512 KiB
`POLARLAC-128`	enc	49940	1448 KiB	1512 KiB
`POLARLAC-128`	dec	49940	1452 KiB	1516 KiB
`POLARLAC-256`	keygen	57692	1452 KiB	1532 KiB
`POLARLAC-256`	enc	57692	1472 KiB	1536 KiB
`POLARLAC-256`	dec	57692	1472 KiB	1536 KiB
`POLARLAC-512`	keygen	69020	1464 KiB	1568 KiB
`POLARLAC-512`	enc	69020	1504 KiB	1572 KiB
`POLARLAC-512`	dec	69020	1512 KiB	1576 KiB
`POLARLAC-512-Star`	keygen	73764	1464 KiB	1572 KiB
`POLARLAC-512-Star`	enc	73764	1516 KiB	1580 KiB
`POLARLAC-512-Star`	dec	73764	1516 KiB	1584 KiB
`POLARLAC-Light`	keygen	50116	1440 KiB	1512 KiB
`POLARLAC-Light`	enc	50116	1448 KiB	1512 KiB
`POLARLAC-Light`	dec	50116	1448 KiB	1512 KiB

6. Transmission and storage overhead

External public-key, ciphertext and signature sizes follow the curated performance/external_sizes.csv catalog; secret-key and shared-secret lengths remain API figures. See the size audit for disagreements.

instance	public key	secret key	ciphertext	shared secret
`POLARLAC-128`	530	1570	640	16
`POLARLAC-256`	1060	3140	1280	32
`POLARLAC-512`	2116	6276	2560	64
`POLARLAC-512-Star`	2522	6682	2970	64
`POLARLAC-Light`	530	1570	608	16

Symmetric primitives

Survey verdict: ICCS-only — default BIT_USE_SHAKE=0

Share of each operation spent in the ICCS placeholder hash functions and in the ICCS DRNG (reference build, measured in the same run with link-time wrappers):

instance	operation	pseudohash/XOF/sm3	DRNG	calls per operation
`POLARLAC-128`	keygen	71%	7.2%	drng 2, pseudoXOF 9.05
`POLARLAC-128`	enc	76%	2.4%	drng 1, pseudoXOF 10
`POLARLAC-128`	dec	69%	0.0%	pseudoXOF 11
`POLARLAC-256`	keygen	70%	4.2%	drng 2, pseudoXOF 9.06
`POLARLAC-256`	enc	73%	1.3%	drng 1, pseudoXOF 10
`POLARLAC-256`	dec	65%	0.0%	pseudoXOF 11
`POLARLAC-512`	keygen	81%	1.4%	drng 2, pseudoXOF 9.1
`POLARLAC-512`	enc	81%	0.5%	drng 1, pseudoXOF 10.1
`POLARLAC-512`	dec	75%	0.0%	pseudoXOF 11
`POLARLAC-512-Star`	keygen	82%	1.4%	drng 2, pseudoXOF 13.1
`POLARLAC-512-Star`	enc	83%	0.5%	drng 1, pseudoXOF 14.1
`POLARLAC-512-Star`	dec	78%	0.0%	pseudoXOF 15
`POLARLAC-Light`	keygen	69%	7.8%	drng 2, pseudoXOF 9.07
`POLARLAC-Light`	enc	74%	2.6%	drng 1, pseudoXOF 10.1
`POLARLAC-Light`	dec	67%	0.0%	pseudoXOF 11

7. Raw evidence index

Paths are relative to performance/data/arm_1/ in the harness; each JSON file records its commands, environment and trials.

instance	item	file
`POLARLAC-128`	KAT log (sha256 `f1b545b1d65e1726…`)	`kat/kem-30/POLARLAC-128.log`
`POLARLAC-128`	timing dec	`records/kem-30/POLARLAC-128__dec.json`
`POLARLAC-128`	timing enc	`records/kem-30/POLARLAC-128__enc.json`
`POLARLAC-128`	timing keygen	`records/kem-30/POLARLAC-128__keygen.json`
`POLARLAC-128`	hash profile dec	`profile/kem-30/POLARLAC-128__dec.json`
`POLARLAC-128`	hash profile enc	`profile/kem-30/POLARLAC-128__enc.json`
`POLARLAC-128`	hash profile keygen	`profile/kem-30/POLARLAC-128__keygen.json`
`POLARLAC-256`	KAT log (sha256 `8cee581f35067201…`)	`kat/kem-30/POLARLAC-256.log`
`POLARLAC-256`	timing dec	`records/kem-30/POLARLAC-256__dec.json`
`POLARLAC-256`	timing enc	`records/kem-30/POLARLAC-256__enc.json`
`POLARLAC-256`	timing keygen	`records/kem-30/POLARLAC-256__keygen.json`
`POLARLAC-256`	hash profile dec	`profile/kem-30/POLARLAC-256__dec.json`
`POLARLAC-256`	hash profile enc	`profile/kem-30/POLARLAC-256__enc.json`
`POLARLAC-256`	hash profile keygen	`profile/kem-30/POLARLAC-256__keygen.json`
`POLARLAC-512`	KAT log (sha256 `9ddba137c1b066df…`)	`kat/kem-30/POLARLAC-512.log`
`POLARLAC-512`	timing dec	`records/kem-30/POLARLAC-512__dec.json`
`POLARLAC-512`	timing enc	`records/kem-30/POLARLAC-512__enc.json`
`POLARLAC-512`	timing keygen	`records/kem-30/POLARLAC-512__keygen.json`
`POLARLAC-512`	hash profile dec	`profile/kem-30/POLARLAC-512__dec.json`
`POLARLAC-512`	hash profile enc	`profile/kem-30/POLARLAC-512__enc.json`
`POLARLAC-512`	hash profile keygen	`profile/kem-30/POLARLAC-512__keygen.json`
`POLARLAC-512-Star`	KAT log (sha256 `e542bf2d1e4c1da0…`)	`kat/kem-30/POLARLAC-512-Star.log`
`POLARLAC-512-Star`	timing dec	`records/kem-30/POLARLAC-512-Star__dec.json`
`POLARLAC-512-Star`	timing enc	`records/kem-30/POLARLAC-512-Star__enc.json`
`POLARLAC-512-Star`	timing keygen	`records/kem-30/POLARLAC-512-Star__keygen.json`
`POLARLAC-512-Star`	hash profile dec	`profile/kem-30/POLARLAC-512-Star__dec.json`
`POLARLAC-512-Star`	hash profile enc	`profile/kem-30/POLARLAC-512-Star__enc.json`
`POLARLAC-512-Star`	hash profile keygen	`profile/kem-30/POLARLAC-512-Star__keygen.json`
`POLARLAC-Light`	KAT log (sha256 `b06e208be907c37a…`)	`kat/kem-30/POLARLAC-Light.log`
`POLARLAC-Light`	timing dec	`records/kem-30/POLARLAC-Light__dec.json`
`POLARLAC-Light`	timing enc	`records/kem-30/POLARLAC-Light__enc.json`
`POLARLAC-Light`	timing keygen	`records/kem-30/POLARLAC-Light__keygen.json`
`POLARLAC-Light`	hash profile dec	`profile/kem-30/POLARLAC-Light__dec.json`
`POLARLAC-Light`	hash profile enc	`profile/kem-30/POLARLAC-Light__enc.json`
`POLARLAC-Light`	hash profile keygen	`profile/kem-30/POLARLAC-Light__keygen.json`

Scripts: performance/campaign.py, performance/ngcc_perf.c, performance/hashprof/ in the harness.