Memory running out while creating the RSA keys.

Mbed TLS Crypto and SSL questions
1

Hello All,
I am trying to integrate the mbedTLS library into my existing project and facing some memory issues while creating the RSA keys.
I would like to give some background about the hardware and the software:

  1. NXP LPC1124 Cortex-M0 (32kb ROM and 10KB RAM)

  2. Existing application use ROM 22kb ROM and 3.2KB RAM

  3. IDE : IAR Embedded workbench

  4. Mbedtls – 2.16.6
    I am new to the mbedTLS. My requirement is to create private and public key for some unique text. I am referring rsa_genkey.c to create keys.
    This is my key generation code:
    int ret = 1;
    mbedtls_rsa_context rsa;
    mbedtls_entropy_context entropy;
    mbedtls_ctr_drbg_context ctr_drbg;
    mbedtls_mpi N, P, Q, D, E, DP, DQ, QP;
    const char *pers = “ABCD”;

    mbedtls_ctr_drbg_init( &ctr_drbg );
    mbedtls_rsa_init( &rsa, MBEDTLS_RSA_PKCS_V15, 0 );
    mbedtls_mpi_init( &N ); mbedtls_mpi_init( &P ); mbedtls_mpi_init( &Q );
    mbedtls_mpi_init( &D ); mbedtls_mpi_init( &E ); mbedtls_mpi_init( &DP );
    mbedtls_mpi_init( &DQ ); mbedtls_mpi_init( &QP );

    mbedtls_entropy_init( &entropy );
    if( ( ret = mbedtls_ctr_drbg_seed( &ctr_drbg, mbedtls_entropy_func, &entropy,
    (const unsigned char *) pers,
    strlen( pers ) ) ) != 0 )
    {
    return;
    }

    if( ( ret = mbedtls_rsa_gen_key( &rsa, mbedtls_ctr_drbg_random, &ctr_drbg, KEY_SIZE,
    EXPONENT ) ) != 0 )
    {
    return;
    }

I have enabled only required parameters in config.h

/* No default entropy platfrom */
#define MBEDTLS_NO_DEFAULT_ENTROPY_SOURCES
#define MBEDTLS_NO_PLATFORM_ENTROPY

/* mbed TLS modules */
#define MBEDTLS_BIGNUM_C
#define MBEDTLS_ECP_C
#define MBEDTLS_ENTROPY_C
#define MBEDTLS_OID_C
#define MBEDTLS_SHA256_C
#define MBEDTLS_RSA_C
#define MBEDTLS_AES_C
#define MBEDTLS_PKCS1_V15
#define MBEDTLS_CTR_DRBG_C

/* Save RAM by adjusting to our exact needs */
#define MBEDTLS_MPI_MAX_SIZE 256 // 256 bits are 32 bytes (Bignum support)
#define MBEDTLS_ECP_WINDOW_SIZE 4
#define MBEDTLS_ECP_FIXED_POINT_OPTIM 1
#define MBEDTLS_ENTROPY_MAX_SOURCES 2

#define MBEDTLS_AES_ROM_TABLES
#define MBEDTLS_PLATFORM_MEMORY
#define MBEDTLS_PLATFORM_C
#define MBEDTLS_ENTROPY_FORCE_SHA256

/* MPI / BIGNUM options */
#define MBEDTLS_MPI_WINDOW_SIZE 1 /**< Maximum windows size used. */
#include “check_config.h”

Issue I am facing is, memory is running out due to aes_gen_tables() function.

If MBEDTLS_AES_ROM_TABLES is not enabled in config.h, RAM is running out.
If enabled, ROM is running out.

  1. Is there any way to minimize memory utilization?
  2. Is there any other algorithm to create private and public keys with less footprint?
  3. How much minimum memory is required to generate key pairs using RSA?

I would really appreciate any help.
Thank you!