We demonstrated, for the first time, a machine-learning method to assist the coexistence between quantum and classical communication channels. Software-defined networking was used to successfully enable the key generation and transmission over a city and campus network.
Abstract The increasing demand for secure communications in mobile and critical infrastructure networks has led to the emergence of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) as a promising technique for enhancing cryptographic security in next-generation systems. This paper reviews recent progress in integrating QKD within mobile and wireless networks. It focuses on key enabling technologies, such as Software-Defined Networking (SDN), satellite-based, and aerial networks. The paper critically analyzes how these frameworks can address evolving security requirements in sixth-generation (6G) networks and smart city infrastructures. Additionally, it examines the role of Machine Learning (ML) in improving QKD performance and adaptability. Challenges such as key management, mobility support, scalability, and interoperability are explored. These challenges help identify current barriers and research directions. By consolidating developments and highlighting unresolved issues, this study offers researchers valuable insights. It discusses the convergence of quantum communication and advanced mobile architectures, facilitating the design of secure and resilient future communication infrastructures.
Software-Defined Networking (SDN) is an emerging networking paradigm that decouples the control and data plane in order to enable programmable and flexible networks, optimizing its applications and advancing computer systems. It does so through its architecture, a key part of which is a centralized network management through open interfaces that revolutionizes the way in which networks are designed and makes them more agile and versatile to the evolving needs of modern and future applications services. This also means, however, that there is now a centralized point of attack that is a major vulnerability, threatening the security of the entire network. With such an advanced network paradigm, it requires a security system that will mitigate these risks and warrant long-term security. In attempts to allow secure communications within the network, this research proposes the implementation of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), leveraging quantum mechanics to secure the network against any computational advancements in the future. QKD is a recent cryptographic system that includes a traditional-computational channel and a physical-quantum channel to generate and distribute keys between parties. It uses the principles of quantum mechanics including entanglement and superposition to ensure that the physical layer cannot be compromised computationally. QKD provides confidentiality and privacy of information and communication. Moreover, it is resistant to technological advancements. The implications of QKD significantly enhance SDN security through its protection against attacks, efficient key distribution, reliable network orchestration, and data integrity, creating an architecture that establishes stable communication channels that are resistant to cyber threats.
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is one of the major cryptographic solutions to tackle the security threats associated to future computational advances, in particular those coming from quantum computing. At the most simple level, QKD can be seen as a highly secure source of symmetric secret keys in two separated places. Nonetheless, the lack of standardization and the strong requirements from the physical layer makes this technology very difficult to integrate in existing infrastructure.However, the success of QKD networks radically depends on the degree in which they can be adopted in the existing infrastructure, and it is a must that it happens via standard protocols and interfaces. The flexibility of novel network paradigms, like Software-Defined Networking (SDN), allows for a faster adoption of new concepts, hardware and services in telecommunications networks. This paradigm can be used for quantum communications, allowing for a fast and scalable deployment of quantum technologies and services in the telecommunications network to a degree that was simply impossible in previous schemes, where the different network devices and their connections should be modified, one by one, to create a quantum communications channel.This tutorial provides an introduction to existing QKD technologies and networks, followed by a descriptive explanation on how SDN principles can be utilized to abstract and integrate QKD systems as part of the network management. This will help to reduce the time-to-market for quantum technologies, and also will make quantum cryptography available as a service to be capitalized by the network operators.
As an important support for quantum communication, quantum key distribution (QKD) networks have achieved a relatively mature level of development, and they face higher requirements for multi-user end-to-end networking capabilities. Thus, QKD networks need an effective management plane to control and coordinate with the QKD resources. As a promising technology, software defined networking (SDN) can separate the control and management of QKD networks from the actual forwarding of the quantum keys. This paper systematically introduces QKD networks enabled by SDN, by elaborating on its overall architecture, related interfaces, and protocols. Then, three-use cases are provided as important paradigms with their corresponding schemes and simulation performances.
Quantum cryptography is one of the emerging nascent fields in the area of quantum computing. It has found its places in various diversified applications across the domains. Ensuring long term information security in the post-quantum era requires the redesigning of conventional algorithms, which are quantum resistant. In the post quantum era, the field of quantum cryptography promises trusted communications, but practical implementation of the networks suffers serious challenges from adaptive conditions like noise and failures of the network links. Revaluation of new quantum resistant security algorithms need to be considered. This paper presents a hybrid system that combines Machine Learning (ML), Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) along with software-defined networking (SDN) for real-time allocation of resources in quantum networks. This approach uses the random forest classifier to predict a different robust network path based on the key rate and quantum bit error rate parameters. As network conditions change, the SDN controller makes it possible to choose a dynamic link. The simulations methods show that the system can adapt to increased noise and compromised links and attain key rates of up to 12.5 Mbps with a QBER rate as low as 0.01. In comparison to manual resource allocation in quantum networks, simulation findings demonstrate greater adaptability and security. Software-defined networking (SDN), quantum bit error rate (QBER), quantum key distribution (QKD), post-quantum cryptography (PQC), machine learning, and resource allocation are the index terms. Results show higher adaptability and security with respect to manual allocation of resources in quantum networks.