DES IP&IP-1: Correction?

[Richard Outerbridge]

Back in July there was a brief discussion of the DES IP and IP-1, to which
I contributed my cynical belief that their only function was to confound
software implementation of the DEA.

Leafing through >Cryptography< by Meyer and Matyas last night, the following
passage leaped out at me (I'd highlited it at some point) on page 116:

"The initial and inverse permutations allow the algorithm to be
implemented more easily on a single chip, provided that the data
and the key are serially loaded."

So: 'officially' they're there to make single chip (circa 1976) serially-
loading hardware implementations easier. Is anyone familiar enough with the
art of hardware (in 1976) and the DEA to opine whether or not this makes a
whole lot of sense? Is that glass half-empty or half-full?
--
Richard Outerbridge <ou...@utcsri.UUCP> (416) 961-4757
Payload Deliveries: N 43 39'36", W 79 23'42", Elev. 106.47m.