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arXiv:2305.00956

Non-Binary LDPC Code Design for Energy-Time Entanglement Quantum Key Distribution

Debarnab Mitra, Lev Tauz, Murat Can Sarihan, Chee Wei Wong, Lara Dolecek

Published May 1, 2023• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

In energy-time entanglement Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), two users extract a shared secret key from the arrival times (discretized as symbols) of entangled photon pairs. In prior work, Zhou et al. proposed a multi-level coding (MLC) scheme that splits the observed symbols into bit layers and utilizes binary Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) codes for reconciliation of the symbols. While binary LDPC codes offer low latency for key generation, splitting the symbols into bits results in a loss of key generation rate due to error propagation. Additionally, existing LDPC codes do not fully utilize the properties of the QKD channel to optimize the key rates. In this paper, we mitigate the above issues by first generalizing the MLC scheme to a non-binary(NB) MLC scheme that has layers with non-binary symbols and utilizes NB-LDPC codes. We show the NB-MLC scheme offers flexibility in system design. Additionally, we show that the NB-MLC scheme with a small symbol size per layer offers the best trade-off between latency and key rate. We then propose a framework to jointly optimize the rate and degree profile of the NB-LDPC codes that is tailored towards the QKD channel resulting in higher key rates than prior work.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2305.00956

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In energy-time entanglement Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), two users extract a shared secret key from the arrival times (discretized as symbols) of entangled photon pairs. In prior work, Zhou et al. proposed a multi-level coding (MLC) scheme that splits the observed symbols into bit layers and utilizes binary Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) codes for reconciliation of the symbols. While binary LDPC codes offer low latency for key generation, splitting the symbols into bits results in a loss of key generation rate due to error propagation. Additionally, existing LDPC codes do not fully utilize the properties of the QKD channel to optimize the key rates. In this paper, we mitigate the above issues by first generalizing the MLC scheme to a non-binary(NB) MLC scheme that has layers with non-binary symbols and utilizes NB-LDPC codes. We show the NB-MLC scheme offers flexibility in system design. Additionally, we show that the NB-MLC scheme with a small symbol size per layer offers the best trade-off between latency and key rate. We then propose a framework to jointly optimize the rate and degree profile of the NB-LDPC codes that is tailored towards the QKD channel resulting in higher key rates than prior work.
Abstract In Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), two users extract a shared secret key using a quantum communication channel in the presence of an eavesdropper. Among QKD protocols, the ones based on Energy-Time (ET) entanglement of photons have been studied extensively due to their ability to generate high key rates from the arrival times of entangled photons. For the information reconciliation (IR) stage of ET-QKD protocols (where the users communicate using a classical channel in order to reconcile differences in their data), a scheme called multi-level coding (MLC) was proposed by Zhou et al. in prior work. The MLC scheme splits the raw key symbols into bit layers and utilizes binary Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) codes to encode each layer. Although binary LDPC codes are able to offer low complexity decoding for IR, they have poor error-correcting performance compared to their non-binary counterparts, thus leading to low key rates. Additionally, existing LDPC codes do not fully utilize the properties of the QKD channel to optimize the key rates. In this paper, we mitigate the above issues by proposing a flexible protocol for IR in ET-QKD systems called Non-Binary Multi-Level Coding NB-MLC(a) which is parameterized by a positive integer a. The NB-MLC(a) protocol is a generalization of the MLC scheme and utilizes NB-LDPC codes from a Galois field of size 2^a. We show that by using a small value of a, the NB-MLC(a) protocol significantly improves the key rate without much increase in complexity. To further improve the key rates of the NB-MLC(a) protocol, we propose i) a joint rate and degree distribution optimization (JRDO) algorithm to design the NB-LDPC codes for the protocol; ii) an interleaved decoding and communication (IDC) scheme to decode the different layers of the NB-MLC(a) protocol. The JRDO algorithm is designed to use the QKD channel information and we show that it results in a higher key rate than codes used in prior work. Additionally, the IDC scheme improves the key rate compared to the decoding and communication methods utilized previously in literature. Overall, the NB-MLC(a) protocol that uses JRDO LDPC codes and the IDC scheme results in a significant 40 − 60% improvement in key rates compared to prior work for ET-QKD systems.
Graph based codes such as low density parity check (LDPC) codes have been shown promising for the information reconciliation phase in quantum key distribution (QKD). However, existing graph coding schemes have not fully utilized the properties of the QKD channel. In this work, we first investigate the channel statistics for discrete variable (DV) QKD based on energy-time entangled photons. We then establish a so-called balanced modulation scheme that is promising for this channel. Based on the modulation, we propose a joint local-global graph coding scheme that is expected to achieve good error-correction performance.
Quantum key distribution (QKD) relies on information reconciliation to determine transmission distance and secure key rate. Existing schemes (e.g., Cascade) demand costly multiround interaction, while binary LDPC-based methods suffer limited error correction capability. This work proposes a QKD reconciliation scheme using non-binary (NB) LDPC codes, combined with a rate-adaptive technique tailored to NB LDPC characteristics. Simulations show NB LDPC codes outperform binary counterparts in error correction performance and reconciliation efficiency-with gains increasing with finite field order, achieving 1.0661 over the finite field GF(128). The rate-adaptive technique extends fixed-rate code applicability, alleviating practical code construction and storage challenges.
Continuous-variable quantum key distribution (QKD) utilizes an ensemble of coherent states of light to distribute secret encryption keys between two parties. An essential ingredient of the QKD protocol is highly efficient information reconciliation. To achieve highly efficient reconciliation, error-correcting codes with a low channel coding rate are inevitable in the most common schemes of multilevel coding and multistage decoding (MLC-MSD) and multidimensional reconciliation. Multiedge-type (MET) low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes are well suited for highly efficient reconciliation at low rates. Here, we calculate the optimal channel coding rates in the MLC-MSD scheme for reverse reconciliation, introduce the concept of generalized extrinsic information transfer charts for MET-LDPC codes, which constitute a simple and fast asymptotic analysis tool, and present a set of MET-LDPC codes with asymptotic efficiency >97>97%>97 for channel coding rates 0.1, 0.05, 0.02, and 0.01. We believe that our codes will find wide application in implementations of continuous-variable quantum key distribution based on Gaussian modulation.
Binary Low-Density Parity-Check (LDPC) codes are a type of error correction code known to exhibit excellent error-correcting capabilities, and have increasingly been applied as the forward error correction solution in a multitude of systems and standards, such as wireless communications, wireline communications, and data storage systems. In the pursuit of codes with even higher coding gain, non-binary LDPC (NB-LDPC) codes defined over a Galois field of order q have risen as a strong replacement candidate. For codes defined with similar rate and length, NB-LDPC codes exhibit a significant coding gain improvement relative to that of their binary counterparts.Unfortunately, NB-LDPC codes are currently limited from practical application by the immense complexity of their decoding algorithms, because the improved error-rate performance of higher field orders comes at the cost of increasing decoding algorithm complexity. Currently available ASIC implementation solutions for NB-LDPC code decoders are simultaneously low in throughput and power-hungry, leading to a low energy efficiency.We propose several techniques at the algorithm level as well as hardware architecture level in an attempt to bring NB-LDPC codes closer to practical deployment. On the algorithm side, we propose several algorithmic modifications and analyze the corresponding hardware cost alleviation as well as impact on coding gain. We also study the quantization scheme for NB-LDPC decoders, again in the context of both the hardware and coding gain impacts, and we propose a technique that enables a good tradeoff in this space. On the hardware side, we develop a FPGA-based NB-LDPC decoder platform for architecture prototyping as well as hardware acceleration of code evaluation via error rate simulations. We also discuss the architectural techniques and innovations corresponding to our proposed algorithm for optimization of the implementation. Finally, a proof-of-concept ASIC chip is realized that integrates many of the proposed techniques. We are able to achieve a 3.7x improvement in the information throughput and 23.8x improvement in the energy efficiency over prior state-of-the-art, without sacrificing the strong error correcting capabilities of the NB-LDPC code.
A Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) protocol describes how two remote parties can establish a secret key by communicating over a quantum and a public classical channel that both can be accessed by an eavesdropper. QKD protocols using energy-time entangled photon pairs are of growing practical interest because of their potential to provide a higher secure key rate over long distances by carrying multiple bits per entangled photon pair. We consider a system where information can be extracted by measuring random times of a sequence of entangled photon arrivals. Our goal is to maximize the utility of each such pair. We propose a discrete time model for the photon arrival process, and establish a theoretical bound on the number of raw bits that can be generated under this model. We first analyse a well known simple binning encoding scheme, and show that it generates significantly lower information rate than what is theoretically possible. We then propose three adaptive schemes that increase the number of raw bits generated per photon, and compute and compare the information rates they offer. Moreover, the effect of public channel communication on the secret key rates of the proposed schemes is investigated.