Implement fast sum of powers for any n

Author: oleganza

src/util.rs

@@ -84,8 +84,8 @@ impl Poly2 {
 }
 
 /// Raises `x` to the power `n` using binary exponentiation,
-/// with (1 to 2)*lg(n) scalar multiplications.
-/// TODO: a consttime version of this would be awfully similar to a Montgomery ladder.
+/// with `(1 to 2)*lg(n)` scalar multiplications.
+/// TODO: a consttime version of this would be similar to a Montgomery ladder.
 pub fn scalar_exp_vartime(x: &Scalar, mut n: u64) -> Scalar {
     let mut result = Scalar::one();
     let mut aux = *x; // x, x^2, x^4, x^8, ...
@@ -95,38 +95,85 @@ pub fn scalar_exp_vartime(x: &Scalar, mut n: u64) -> Scalar {
             result = result * aux;
         }
         n = n >> 1;
-        aux = aux * aux; // FIXME: one unnecessary mult at the last step here!
+        if n > 0 {
+            aux = aux * aux;
+        }
     }
     result
 }
 
-/// Takes the sum of all the powers of `x`, up to `n`
-/// If `n` is a power of 2, it uses the efficient algorithm with `2*lg n` multiplcations and additions.
-/// If `n` is not a power of 2, it uses the slow algorithm with `n` multiplications and additions.
-/// In the Bulletproofs case, all calls to `sum_of_powers` should have `n` as a power of 2.
-pub fn sum_of_powers(x: &Scalar, n: usize) -> Scalar {
-    if !n.is_power_of_two() {
-        return sum_of_powers_slow(x, n);
-    }
-    if n == 0 || n == 1 {
-        return Scalar::from_u64(n as u64);
-    }
-    let mut m = n;
-    let mut result = Scalar::one() + x;
-    let mut factor = *x;
-    while m > 2 {
-        factor = factor * factor;
-        result = result + factor * result;
-        m = m / 2;
+/// Computes the sum of all the powers of \\(x\\) \\(S(n) = (x^0 + \dots + x^{n-1})\\)
+/// using \\(O(\lg n)\\) multiplications and additions. Length \\(n\\) is not considered secret
+/// and algorithm is fastest when \\(n\\) is the power of two.
+///
+/// ### Algorithm overview
+///
+/// First, let \\(n\\) be a power of two.
+/// Then, we can divide the polynomial in two halves like so:
+/// \\[
+/// \begin{aligned}
+/// S(n) &= (1+\dots+x^{n-1})                                 \\\\
+///      &= (1+\dots+x^{n/2-1}) + x^{n/2} (1+\dots+x^{n/2-1}) \\\\
+///      &= s + x^{n/2} s.
+/// \end{aligned}
+/// \\]
+/// We can divide each \\(s\\) in half until we arrive to a degree-1 polynomial \\((1+x\cdot 1)\\).
+/// Recursively, the total sum can be defined as:
+/// \\[
+/// \begin{aligned}
+/// S(0)    &= 0 \\\\
+/// S(n)    &= s_{\lg n} \\\\
+/// s_0     &= 1 \\\\
+/// s_i     &= s_{i-1} + x^{2^{i-1}} s_{i-1}
+/// \end{aligned}
+/// \\]
+/// This representation allows us to square \\(x\\) only \\(\lg n\\) times.
+///
+/// Lets apply this to \\(n\\) which is not a power of two (\\(2^{k-1} < n < 2^k\\)) which can be represented in binary using
+/// bits \\(b_i\\) in \\(\\{0,1\\}\\):
+/// \\[
+/// n = b_0 2^0 + \dots + b_{k-1} 2^{k-1}
+/// \\]
+/// If we scan the bits of \\(n\\) from low to high (\\(i \in [0,k)\\)),
+/// we can conditionally (if \\(b_i = 1\\)) add to a resulting scalar
+/// an intermediate polynomial with \\(2^i\\) terms using the above algorithm,
+/// provided we offset the polynomial by \\(x^{n_i}\\), the next power of \\(x\\)
+/// for the existing sum, where \\(n_i = \sum_{j=0}^{i-1} b_j 2^j\\).
+///
+/// The full algorithm becomes:
+/// \\[
+/// \begin{aligned}
+/// S(0)    &= 0 \\\\
+/// S(1)    &= 1 \\\\
+/// S(i)    &= S(i-1) + x^{n_i} s_i b_i\\\\
+///         &= S(i-1) + x^{n_{i-1}} (x^{2^{i-1}})^{b_{i-1}} s_i b_i
+/// \end{aligned}
+/// \\]
+pub fn sum_of_powers(x: &Scalar, mut n: usize) -> Scalar {
+    let mut result = Scalar::zero();
+    let mut f = Scalar::one(); // power of x to offset subsequent polynomials based on lower bits of n.
+    let mut s = Scalar::one(); // power-of-two polynomial: 1, 1+x, 1+x+x^2+x^3, ...
+    let mut p = *x; // x, x^2, x^4, ..., x^{2^i}
+    while n > 0 {
+        // take a bit from n
+        let bit = n & 1;
+        n = n >> 1;
+        
+        if bit == 1 {
+            // bits of `n` are not secret, so it's okay to be vartime because of `n` value.
+            result += f * s;
+            if n > 0 { // avoid multiplication if no bits left
+                f = f * p;
+            }
+        }
+        if n > 0 { // avoid multiplication if no bits left
+            s = s + p * s;
+            p = p * p;
+        }
     }
     result
 }
 
-// takes the sum of all of the powers of x, up to n
-fn sum_of_powers_slow(x: &Scalar, n: usize) -> Scalar {
-    exp_iter(*x).take(n).fold(Scalar::zero(), |acc, x| acc + x)
-}
-
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use super::*;
@@ -185,9 +232,14 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    // takes the sum of all of the powers of x, up to n
+    fn sum_of_powers_slow(x: &Scalar, n: usize) -> Scalar {
+        exp_iter(*x).take(n).fold(Scalar::zero(), |acc, x| acc + x)
+    }
+
     #[test]
-    fn test_sum_of_powers() {
-        let x = Scalar::from_u64(10);
+    fn test_sum_of_powers_pow2() {
+        let x = Scalar::from_u64(1337133713371337);
         assert_eq!(sum_of_powers_slow(&x, 0), sum_of_powers(&x, 0));
         assert_eq!(sum_of_powers_slow(&x, 1), sum_of_powers(&x, 1));
         assert_eq!(sum_of_powers_slow(&x, 2), sum_of_powers(&x, 2));
@@ -199,14 +251,16 @@ mod tests {
     }
 
     #[test]
-    fn test_sum_of_powers_slow() {
+    fn test_sum_of_powers_non_pow2() {
         let x = Scalar::from_u64(10);
-        assert_eq!(sum_of_powers_slow(&x, 0), Scalar::zero());
-        assert_eq!(sum_of_powers_slow(&x, 1), Scalar::one());
-        assert_eq!(sum_of_powers_slow(&x, 2), Scalar::from_u64(11));
-        assert_eq!(sum_of_powers_slow(&x, 3), Scalar::from_u64(111));
-        assert_eq!(sum_of_powers_slow(&x, 4), Scalar::from_u64(1111));
-        assert_eq!(sum_of_powers_slow(&x, 5), Scalar::from_u64(11111));
-        assert_eq!(sum_of_powers_slow(&x, 6), Scalar::from_u64(111111));
+        assert_eq!(sum_of_powers(&x, 0), Scalar::zero());
+        assert_eq!(sum_of_powers(&x, 1), Scalar::one());
+        assert_eq!(sum_of_powers(&x, 2), Scalar::from_u64(11));
+        assert_eq!(sum_of_powers(&x, 3), Scalar::from_u64(111));
+        assert_eq!(sum_of_powers(&x, 4), Scalar::from_u64(1111));
+        assert_eq!(sum_of_powers(&x, 5), Scalar::from_u64(11111));
+        assert_eq!(sum_of_powers(&x, 6), Scalar::from_u64(111111));
+        assert_eq!(sum_of_powers(&x, 7), Scalar::from_u64(1111111));
+        assert_eq!(sum_of_powers(&x, 8), Scalar::from_u64(11111111));
     }
 }