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Optics Letters

High-speed wavelength-division multiplexing quantum key distribution system

K. Yoshino, Mikio Fujiwara, Akihiro Tanaka, Seigo Takahashi, Yoshihiro Nambu, Akihisa Tomita, Shigehito Miki, Taro Yamashita, Zhen Wang, Masahide Sasaki, Akio Tajima

Published Jan 13, 2012• 80 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A high-speed quantum key distribution system was developed with the wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) technique and dedicated key distillation hardware engines. Two interferometers for encoding and decoding are shared over eight wavelengths to reduce the system's size, cost, and control complexity. The key distillation engines can process a huge amount of data from the WDM channels by using a 1 Mbit block in real time. We demonstrated a three-channel WDM system that simultaneously uses avalanche photodiodes and superconducting single-photon detectors. We achieved 12 h continuous key generation with a secure key rate of 208 kilobits per second through a 45 km field fiber with 14.5 dB loss.

DOI
10.1364/ol.37.000223

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A high-speed quantum key distribution system was developed with the wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) technique and dedicated key distillation hardware engines. Two interferometers for encoding and decoding are shared over eight wavelengths to reduce the system's size, cost, and control complexity. The key distillation engines can process a huge amount of data from the WDM channels by using a 1 Mbit block in real time. We demonstrated a three-channel WDM system that simultaneously uses avalanche photodiodes and superconducting single-photon detectors. We achieved 12 h continuous key generation with a secure key rate of 208 kilobits per second through a 45 km field fiber with 14.5 dB loss.
A high-speed quantum key distribution (QKD) system has been developed with the goal of a 1-Mbps final secure key generation rate under 10-dB transmission loss, which corresponds to 50 km of standard single mode fiber. For the purpose of speeding-up all processes in QKD sequence, we apply a wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) technique using the colorless interferometric technique and a key distillation hardware (HW) engine. We establish a novel WDM scheme, sharing interferometers and their temperature regulators over multiple channels, which enables us to increase the number of channels with a small impact on system cost and size. To generate a secure key while satisfying both high speed and high security, we develop a key distillation HW engine which enables us to execute key distillation with 1-Mbit code length in real time. We have experimentally evaluated the performance of the developed system through installed fiber. By operating three wavelength channels, a new, world leading key generation rate of greater than 200 kbps over a 14.5-dB transmission loss has been achieved.
Quantum key distribution (QKD) systems can generate unconditionally secure common keys between remote users. Improvements of QKD performance, particularly in key generation rate, have been required to meet current network traffic. A high-speed QKD system should be equipped with low-loss receivers with high visibility, highly efficient photon detectors with small dark count probability. A solution to these issues is to employ planar lightwave circuit (PLC) interferometers, single photon detection circuits and modules, together with multi-wavelength channels transmission using wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technique.
We present a compactly integrated, 625 MHz clocked coherent one-way quantum key distribution system which continuously distributes secret keys over an optical fibre link. To support high secret key rates, we implemented a fast hardware key distillation engine which allows for key distillation rates up to 4 Mbps in real time. The system employs wavelength multiplexing in order to run over only a single optical fibre. Using fast gated InGaAs single photon detectors, we reliably distribute secret keys with a rate above 21 kbps over 25 km of optical fibre. We optimized the system considering a security analysis that respects finite-key-size effects, authentication costs and system errors for a security parameter of ε QKD = 4 × 10 −9 .
We present the results of a Swiss project dedicated to the development of high speed quantum key distribution and data encryption. The QKD engine features fully automated key exchange, hardware key distillation based on finite key security analysis, efficient authentication and wavelength division multiplexing of the quantum and the classical channel and one-time pas encryption. The encryption device allows authenticated symmetric key encryption (e.g AES) at rates of up to 100 Gb/s. A new quantum key can uploaded up to 1000 times second from the QKD engine.
Background: Quantum Key Distribution (QKD( is a promising technology for secure communication, leveraging the principles of quantum mechanics to provide theoretically unbreakable encryption. With the exponential growth in data traffic and the increasing need for secure communication in backbone fiber networks, integrating high-bit-rate multiplexing techniques into QKD systems can enhance their efficiency and scalability. Problem: Traditional QKD systems face limitations in terms of data rate and network scalability, particularly in high-capacity optical communication networks. As data demands increase, there is a critical need for methods that can support high-bit-rate multiplexing while maintaining the security and performance of QKD. Method: This study proposes a novel QKD approach using high-bit-rate multiplexing in backbone fiber networks. The method involves encoding quantum keys using multiple optical channels simultaneously to increase the data throughput of the QKD system. We employ a combination of time-division multiplexing (TDM( and wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM( to optimize the use of fiber resources and enhance key distribution rates. Results: Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves a key distribution rate of 10 Mbps over a 200 km fiber link with a quantum bit error rate (QBER( of 1.5%. This represents a 50% improvement in key rate compared to conventional QKD systems without multiplexing. Additionally, the method shows enhanced scalability and network utilization, supporting up to 16 multiplexed channels with minimal impact on security.