Elliptic curve cryptography with fragmented key processing and methods for use therewith

1. A cryptography module comprising:

a key store having a plurality of storage locations for storing a private key as k key fragments that include k−1 key segments and a remainder key fragment, where k is greater than 2, wherein the k−1 key segments are generated as random key segments, and wherein the remainder key fragment is generated based on the k−1 key segments; and

at least one crypto-processing segment, coupled to the key store, operating based on the k key fragments for processing a message in accordance with an asymmetrical public key encryption algorithm to produce an encrypted message.

2. The cryptography module of claim 1 wherein the at least one crypto-processing segment generates a modular product based on corresponding ones of the k key fragments.

3. The cryptography module of claim 1 wherein the at least one crypto-processing segment sequentially processes the message based on the k key fragments to produce the signed message.

4. The cryptography module of claim 1 wherein the at least one crypto-processing segments includes a plurality of crypto-processing segments that operate in parallel to process the message into a plurality of fragmented key results and wherein the cryptography module further comprises:

a combiner, coupled to the plurality of crypto-processing segments, that combines the plurality of fragmented key results to produce the signed message.

5. The cryptography module of claim 4 wherein the combiner generates a sum of the plurality of fragmented key results.

6. The cryptography module of claim 1 wherein:

d =( m 1 +m 2 +m 3 + . . . +m k )modulo n

where m i represents the ith of the k key fragments, d represents the key and n is an integer.

7. A method comprising:

storing a private key in k key fragments that include k−1 key segments and a remainder key fragment, where k is greater than 2, wherein the k−1 key segments are generated as random key segments, and wherein the remainder key fragment is generated based on the k−1 key segments; and

processing a message in accordance with an asymmetrical public key encryption algorithm via at least one crypto-processing segment, based on the k key fragments, to produce an encrypted message.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the at least one crypto-processing segment generates a modular product based on corresponding ones of the k key fragments.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein processing the message includes sequentially processing the message to produce the signed message.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein processing the message includes:

processing the message in parallel to generate a plurality of fragmented key results; and

combining the plurality of fragmented key results to produce the signed message.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein combining the plurality of fragmented key results includes generating a sum of the plurality of fragmented key results.

12. The method of claim 7 wherein:

d =( m 1 +m 2 +m 3 + . . . +m k )modulo n

where m i represents the ith of the k key fragments, d represents the key and n is an integer.

13. A method comprising:

generating at least one random number via a random number generator;

generating k−1 key fragments via a device based on the at least one random number, where k is greater than 2; and

generating a remainder key fragment via the device, based on a modulo remainder computed from the k−1 key fragments and a key;

wherein the key includes a private key of an asymmetrical public key encryption algorithm.

14. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

storing the k−1 key segments and the remainder key fragment.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

processing a message in accordance with an asymmetrical public key encryption algorithm via at least one crypto-processing segment, based on the k−1 key segments and the remainder key fragment, to produce an encrypted message.