Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE
A continuous-variable quantum key distribution using correlated photons
Eric Donkor, Reinhard K. Erdmann, Patrick D. Kumavor
Abstract
We propose a quantum key distribution system based on the generation and transmission of random continuous variables in time, energy (frequency), phase, and photon number. The bounds for quantum measurement in our scheme are determined by the uncertainty principle, rather than single quadrature measurements of entangled states, or the no-cloning of (unknown) single quantum states. Correlated measurements are performed in the energy-time, and momentum-displacement frames. As a result the QKD protocols for generation of raw-keys, sifted-keys and privacy amplifications offer a higher level of security against individual or multi-attacks. The network architecture is in a plug-and-play configuration; the QKD protocol; determination of quantum bit error rate, and estimation of system performance in the presence of eavesdropping are presented.