Pseudo random number generator added

README.md

@@ -143,6 +143,20 @@ There are other algorithms but this is the simplest and fastest I've encountered
 These were written for encoders producing TTL outputs. For switches, adapt the pull definition
 to provide a pull up or pull down as required.
 
+# A pseudo random number generator
+
+On the Pyboard V1.1, true random numbers may be generated rapidly with pyb.rng()
+which uses a hardware random number generator on the microcontroller.
+
+There are two use cases for the pseudo random number generator. Firstly on
+platforms lacking a hardware generator (e.g. the Pyboard Lite). And secondly
+where repeatable results are required, for example in testing. A pseudo random
+number generator is seeded with an arbitrary initial value. On each call to the
+function it will return a random number, but (given the same seed) the sequence
+of numbers following initialisation will always be the same.
+
+See the code for usage and timing documentation.
+
 # License
 
 Any code placed here is released under the MIT License (MIT).  

random/random.py

@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+# pseudorandom numbers for MicroPython
+# Uses the xorshift64star algorithm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xorshift
+# Author: Peter Hinch
+# Copyright Peter Hinch 2016 Released under the MIT license
+
+# Example usage to produce numbers between 0 and 99
+# rando = xorshift64star(100)
+# successive calls to rando() will produce the required result.
+# Timing 109us (Pyboard 1.1), 191us (Pyboard lite), 1.264ms (ESP8266)
+
+def xorshift64star(modulo, seed = 0xf9ac6ba4):
+    x = seed
+    def func():
+        nonlocal x
+        x ^= x >> 12
+        x ^= x << 25
+        x ^= x >> 27
+        x &= 0xffffffffffffffff
+        return (x * 0x2545F4914F6CDD1D) % modulo
+    return func