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IEEE Communications Magazine

Using quantum technologies to improve fiber optic communication systems

Armando N. Pinto, Nuno A. Silva, Álvaro J. Almeida, Nelson Jesus Muga

Published Aug 1, 2013• 18 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We discuss the near future impact that recent developments of quantum technologies can have in the field of fiber optic communication systems. The ability to generate, manipulate, transmit, and detect a single or very few photon(s) may open new routes that can trigger a completely new generation of communication systems. We show that quantum technologies can address two of the more challenging problems communication engineers face nowadays: capacity and security. Indeed, by radically decreasing the number of photons used to encode each bit of information, we can more efficiently explore the full capacity to carry information of optical fibers. Moreover, by encoding information in individual or very few photons, we can take advantage of the quantum laws to add new functionalities to communication systems. Secrecy is the more obvious one, but a completely new set of functionalities can be added at the physical layer considering the peculiarities of quantum laws that rule transmission and detection.

DOI
10.1109/mcom.2013.6576337

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We discuss the near future impact that recent developments of quantum technologies can have in the field of fiber optic communication systems. The ability to generate, manipulate, transmit, and detect a single or very few photon(s) may open new routes that can trigger a completely new generation of communication systems. We show that quantum technologies can address two of the more challenging problems communication engineers face nowadays: capacity and security. Indeed, by radically decreasing the number of photons used to encode each bit of information, we can more efficiently explore the full capacity to carry information of optical fibers. Moreover, by encoding information in individual or very few photons, we can take advantage of the quantum laws to add new functionalities to communication systems. Secrecy is the more obvious one, but a completely new set of functionalities can be added at the physical layer considering the peculiarities of quantum laws that rule transmission and detection.
We show how to generate, encode, transmit and detect single photons. By using single photons we can address two of the more challenging problems that communication engineers face nowadays: capacity and security. Indeed, by decreasing the number of photons used to encode each bit, we can efficiently explore the full capacity to carry information of optical fibers, and we can guarantee privacy at the physical layer. We present results for single and entangled photon generation. We encode information in the photons polarization and after transmission we retrieve that information. We discuss the impact of fiber birefringence on the photons polarization.
Quantum communications can provide almost perfect security through the use of quantum laws to detect any possible leak of information. We discuss critical issues in the implementation of quantum communication systems over installed optical fibers. We use stimulated four-wave mixing to generate single photons inside optical fibers, and by tuning the separation between the pump and the signal we adjust the average number of photons per pulse. We report measurements of the source statistics and show that it goes from a thermal to Poisson distribution with the increase of the pump power. We generate entangled photons pairs through spontaneous four-wave mixing. We report results for different type of fibers to approach the maximum value of the Bell inequality. We model the impact of polarization rotation, attenuation and Raman scattering and present optimum configurations to increase the degree of entanglement. We encode information in the photons polarization and assess the use of wavelength and time division multiplexing based control systems to compensate for the random rotation of the polarization during transmission. We show that time division multiplexing systems provide a more robust solution considering the values of PMD of nowadays installed fibers. We evaluate the impact on the quantum channel of co-propagating classical channels, and present guidelines for adding quantum channels to installed WDM optical communication systems without strongly penalizing the performance of the quantum channel. We discuss the process of retrieving information from the photons polarization. We identify the major impairments that limit the speed and distance of the quantum channel. Finally, we model theoretically the QBER and present results of an experimental performance assessment of the system quality through QBER measurements.
Humanity’s social, economic, and technological progress could not have been made without communications infrastructure. The need to attain the sophistication of long-distance communication has grown steadily since the dawn of civilization. The modern global communications system is the single greatest infrastructural project in human history. The global telecommunications grid which uses satellites, deep-sea fiber-optic systems, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, microwave and other radio, and optical-frequency communications networks are tremendous in coverage, unparalleled in connection, and ubiquitous in application. As we approach the middle of the 21st century, this system’s next major update will incorporate quantum communications technology. Quantum communication, in tandem with quantum computing and quantum sensing, constitutes one of the three pillars of second-generation quantum technology and promises an array of novel applications. Considering the reliable transmission of quantum information often requires the transport of individual particles of light photons through a world inundated by trillions upon trillions of photons, quantum communication systems are an engineering marvel. To provide a technological alternative for existing public-key encryption protocols, which are now susceptible to the threat posed by future quantum computing systems, nascent commercial quantum communication networks aim to realize the potential for cryptographic security provided by the laws of quantum mechanics. However, a number of obstacles must be overcome before quantum communications can be widely adopted. This study focuses on the current state of quantum communication, the promise of its prospects in the near and far future, the obstacles it faces, and the breakthroughs and applications developed by the United Arab Emirates.
The rapid increase on the information sharing around the world, leads to an utmost requirement for capacity and bandwidth. However, the need for security in the transmission and storage of information is also of major importance. The use of quantum technologies provides a practical solution for secure communications systems. Quantum key distribution (QKD) was the first practical application of quantum mechanics, and nowadays it is the most developed one. In order to share secret keys between two parties can be used several methods of encoding. Due to its simplicity, the encoding into polarization is one of the most used. However, when we use optical fibers as transmission channels, the polarization suffers random rotations that may change the state of polarization (SOP) of the light initially sent to the fiber to a new one at the output. Thus, in order to enable real-time communication using this encoding method it is required the use of a dynamic control system. We describe a scheme of transmission of quantum information, which is based in the polarization encoding, and that allows to share secret keys through optical fibers without interruption. The dynamic polarization control system used in such scheme is described, both theoretically and experimentally. Their advantages and limitations for the use in quantum communications are presented and discussed.
Quantum laws can be used to implement secure communication channels; this has been named quantum cryptography. In quantum cryptography the security does not depend of limited computational power, but is inherent to the laws that govern the propagation and detection of single and entangled photons. We show how single and entangled photon-pairs can be efficiently generated using four-wave mixing in optical fibers. We analyze the source statistics, degree of entanglement and impact of spontaneous Raman scattering. By coding information in the photons polarization we are able to transmit quantum information over 20 km of standard single mode fiber.
The development of quantum technologies will open up new perspectives in the use of quantum algorithms, the creation and modeling of complex physical and biological systems, new physical methods of transmitting, receiving and processing information. In turn, this will give impetus to the development of a large number of applications in the scientific, technical, economic and social spheres of society. Quantum cryptography is a communication protection method based on certain phenomena of quantum physics. Unlike traditional cryptography, which uses mathematical methods to ensure the secrecy of information, quantum cryptography focuses on physics, where information is carried using objects of quantum mechanics. The process of sending and receiving is always carried out by physical means, for example using electrons in an electric current, or photons in fiber-optic communication lines. In this process, the current situation was determined and the problems encountered and the solution suggestions for these problems were tried to be addressed.