In a method of determining a pair of numbers comprising a first number and
a second number, in which the first number may be a first key and the
second number may be a second key of an encryption system and the second
number is the multiplicative inverse with respect to a modulus of the
first number, said modulus being equal to the product of a first prime
number and a second prime number, the first number is selected first.
Thereafter, a first sub-number for the second number is computed as a
multiplicative inverse of the first number with respect to a first
sub-modulus that is equal to the first prime number minus 1 divided by
the greatest common divisor of the first prime number minus 1 and the
second prime number minus 1. Then, a second sub-number for the second
number is computed as multiplicative inverse of the first number with
respect to a second sub-modulus that is equal to the second prime number
minus 1, with said first sub-modulus and said second sub-modulus being
relatively prime. Finally, the second number is determined using the
first sub-number and the second sub-number by means of the Chinese
remainder theorem. By utilization of the Chinese remainder theorem, the
operation of forming the multiplicative inverse is transformed to two
corresponding operations with shorter numbers and a fast combination
step, so that an acceleration by the factor of 4 is obtained as compared
to a method without Chinese remainder theorem.