Physical layer encryption by Y-00 protocol is proposed for secure interconnection of data centers. 25-Gb/s, 120-km Y-00 signal transmission is successfully demonstrated with wavelength division multiplexing (10 ch × 2.5 Gb/s, 50-GHz channel spacing).
Recently, optical fiber transmission lines have flows of huge data including confidential information. Presently, the mathematical cipher is employed in some access systems to protect eavesdropping. However, the cipher break history shows such mathematical cipher is not reliable enough. Such fact demands an urgent development of more reliable cipher and drives us to focus actively on the research and development of physical cipher. Y-00 quantum cipher is an encryption scheme combined with physical phenomena and mathematical cipher, and it provides high speed performance and a provable security. So far, we have applied Y-00 quantum cipher to point-to-point transmission systems. However, secure communication system in the multiple remote point access system from a local point is also important. In this work, we propose a secure multiple point access system using the intensity modulated Y-00 quantum cipher. A one-to-three point transmission system using Y-00 quantum cipher in the wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) scheme is experimentally demonstrated where Y-00 quantum ciphers encrypted with three different secret keys are transmitted from a local point to three users in different remote access points. For the first time to our knowledge, Y-00 cipher communications between users with the correct keys are successfully demonstrated at 2.5-Gb/s data rate while users with the different keys are not able to communicate.
Protecting the security of optical network is a major worldwide challenge. The conventional schemes for securing communications are based on cryptography at the MAC layer and its higher layers, which are facing a great threat with the development of quantum computers. Optical encryption is a promising way for building security on the physical layer of optical communications. In this work, we propose a novel optical encryption scheme for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) fiber-optic communication systems, by utilizing the private chaotic phase scrambling. Secure transmission of 50 Gbps signal over 50-km standard single-mode fiber is experimentally and numerically demonstrated. The results show that the WDM signal is efficiently encrypted into a noise-like signal, due to the spectral broadening effect of chaotic phase scrambling. Since the processes of encryption and decryption are totally implemented in the optical domain, the proposed scheme can encrypt the entire network traffic with low latency and high speed. Moreover, the proposed encryption scheme is compatible with the existing WDM optical networks, and only one pair of encryption and decryption devices is sufficient to encrypt all WDM channels, thus the scheme can be easily implemented at low hardware cost.
Providing physical layer security at the lowest network layer in fiber-optic communication systems is a technical challenge worldwide. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a pure hardware optical encryption scheme based on temporal spreading and self-feedback phase encryption for high-speed and long-distance physical-layer secure optical communication. A record high bit-rate-distance product of 6400 Gb/s km is successfully achieved by the secure transmission of a 32 Gb/s on-off-keying modulated confidential signal over a 200 km optical fiber link. The demonstrated scheme is fully compatible with conventional optical transmission systems and can be operated in a pluggable manner, which may pave a new path to ultra-high-speed physical-layer secure optical communication in the future.
We describe an emerging method of encryption suitable for high-speed optical communication networks. This encryption protocol combines traditional electronic cryptographic algorithms with the physical effect of optical noise of quantum origin to create a highly secure method of secret communications. The resulting optical signal is compatible with today's high speed fiber optic infrastructure including optical amplification and add/drop multiplexing. Systems implementing this protocol can be constructed with common commercially available components. We describe experimental results obtained with a 2.5 Gb/s system. The encrypted signal is shown to travel error-free through >500 km of optical fiber. Simulations show that reaches and data rates consistent with modern long haul optical networks are attainable.