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Chinese Physics

Influence of multi-photon pulses on practical differential-phase-shift quantum key distribution

Zhao Feng, Mingxing Fu, Lu Yi-Qun, Songhao Liu

Published Nov 1, 2007• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The influence of multi-photon pulses on practical differential-phase-shift quantum key distribution (DPS-QKD) is analysed. We have estimated the information which Eve obtained by PNS (photon-number splitting) attack and BS (beam splitting) attack. The result indicates that the PNS attack and BS attack will not limit the transmission distance as long as we select an appropriate mean photon number. Also, the maximum mean photon number under BS attack in practical DPS-QKD system and the set of practical assumptions about Eve's capabilities are presented.

DOI
10.1088/1009-1963/16/11/043

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The influence of multi-photon pulses on practical differential-phase-shift quantum key distribution (DPS-QKD) is analysed. We have estimated the information which Eve obtained by PNS (photon-number splitting) attack and BS (beam splitting) attack. The result indicates that the PNS attack and BS attack will not limit the transmission distance as long as we select an appropriate mean photon number. Also, the maximum mean photon number under BS attack in practical DPS-QKD system and the set of practical assumptions about Eve's capabilities are presented.
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Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is one of the most promising technologies that enable theoretically unbreakable secure communications in this highly advanced information security era. This work provides a comparative analysis of QKD protocols such as BB84, Coherent One-Way (COW), and Differential Phase-Shift (DPS) against eavesdropping attacks e.g., Photon Number Splitting (PNS) attack. It employs a realistic approach to simulations such as using weak coherent pulse (WCP) sources. This work also explores qubit generation and the whole key distribution process in non-ideal conditions. Detailed algorithms have been discussed that simulate the encoding, transmission, and decoding process for every protocol, as well as simulating PNS attacks where an eavesdropper removes photons to gain key information without any detectable errors. Statistical metrics, such as Visibility and the information gain, are used to quantify the impact of these attacks. Future work aspects may include the extension of the simulation to incorporate additional parameters such as channel noise, fiber attenuation, detector dark counts, etc. to provide a realistic analysis to compare various QKD protocols.
In quantum key distribution (QKD), eavesdropping is generally detected based on bit errors resulting from eavesdropper attacks. This study proposes a QKD scheme for detecting eavesdropping based on the photon-detection rate instead of the bit error rate. The differential-phase-shift (DPS) QKD protocol, which transmits lasting weak coherent pulses, is modified such that decoy pulses with a large mean photon number are randomly inserted into a signal pulse sequence. With this modification, eavesdropping can be detected by monitoring the photon-detection rates at the time slots around the decoy pulses. The key-creation performance of the modified DPS-QKD system is evaluated, and the results indicate that the QKD distance is increased with the modification.
Quantum key distribution (QKD) has been studied as an ultimate method for secure communications, and it now is emerging as a technology that can be deployed in real fibre networks. Here, we present our QKD experiments based on the differential phase shift QKD (DPS-QKD) protocol. A DPS-QKD system has a simple configuration that is easy to implement with conventional optical communication components, and it is suitable for a high clock rate system. Moreover, although the DPS-QKD system is implemented with an attenuated laser source, it is inherently secure against strong eavesdropping attacks called photon number splitting attacks, which pose a serious threat to conventional QKD systems with attenuated laser sources. We also describe three types of single photon detectors that are suitable for high-speed, long-distance QKD: an upconversion detector, a superconducting single photon detector, and a sinusoidally gated InGaAs avalanche photodiode. We present our record setting QKD experiments that employed those detectors.