Implementing and Testing New Versions of a Good, 48-Bit, Pseudo-RandomNumber Generator

The work described in this paper arose when one day the author found himself in need of a good, pseudo-random number generator that would execute and produce identical results on two different computers (in this case, the 16-bit PDP-11 and the 32-bit VAX-11, both manufactured by Digital Equipment Corporation). Good, pseudorandom number generators often require multiple-precision arithmetic; hence, to achieve speed they are usually implemented in assembly language and are dependent upon the word length of the computer. If * UNIX is a trademark of Bell Laboratories.