@InProceedings{AR78a, replaced-by = { AR78b }, author = { Leonard M. Adleman and Ronald L. Rivest }, title = { The Use of Public Key Cryptography in Communication System Design }, OPTpages = {}, booktitle = { Proceedings National Conference on Communications }, date = { 1978 }, OPTyear = { 1978 }, OPTmonth = { December }, eventtitle = { NCC '78 }, eventdate = { 1978-12 }, venue = { Birmingham, Alabama }, OPTeditor = {}, OPTvolume = {}, OPTnumber = {}, OPTseries = {}, OPTorganization = {}, OPTpublisher = {}, abstract = { Since the time of Caesar, cryptography has been used in the design of secure communications systems. Recently, Diffie and Hellman [2] have introduced a new type of cryptographic method, based on ``trapdoor'' functions, which promises to be of great value in the design of such systems. We present a review of public-key cryptosystems, followed by examples of communications systems which make particularly elegant use of their properties. }, }