We investigate the crosstalk noise, especially the spontaneous Raman scattering, in the optical fiber of a co-propagation system between quantum key distribution (QKD) and classical communications. Although many methods have been proposed, such as increasing the wavelength spacing and narrowband filtering technique, to suppress Raman scattering noise, these methods greatly affect the performance of QKD. One way to solve the obstacle restricting the coexistence is to decrease the classical signal power. Based on the high gain of the gated avalanche photodiode and pulse position modulation, we demonstrate that the co-propagation system works effectively with only a small effect on long-haul fibers, which has great significance for the practical widespread commercialization of QKD.
We investigate the crosstalk noise, especially the spontaneous Raman scattering, in the optical fiber of a co-propagation system between quantum key distribution (QKD) and classical communications. Although many methods have been proposed, such as increasing the wavelength spacing and narrowband filtering technique, to suppress Raman scattering noise, these methods greatly affect the performance of QKD. One way to solve the obstacle restricting the coexistence is to decrease the classical signal power. Based on the high gain of the gated avalanche photodiode and pulse position modulation, we demonstrate that the co-propagation system works effectively with only a small effect on long-haul fibers, which has great significance for the practical widespread commercialization of QKD.
We investigate (a) spontaneous Raman scattering of classical signals in long optical fiber links leading to significant Raman noise in quantum channels propagating in the same fiber and (b) impact of chromatic dispersion on the performance of high quantum bit rate QKD systems. One way of decreasing Raman noise is to decrease the classical signal power. This may be achieved by the use of coherent modulation formats and the deployment of Forward Error Correction technology. Additionally, low loss fiber with small Raman gain at telecom wavelengths enables the simultaneous transmission of multiple quantum channels and one or a few classical channels at 100 Gb/s rate over tens, possibly hundreds, of kilometers.
A successful commercial deployment of quantum key distribution (QKD) technologies requires integrating QKD links into existing fibers and sharing the same fiber networks with classical data traffic. To mitigate the spontaneous Raman scattering (SpRS) noise from classical data channels, several quantum/classical coexistence strategies have been developed. O-band solutions place the QKD channel in the O-band for lower SpRS noise but with the penalty of higher fiber loss and can rarely reach beyond 80 km of fiber; another method is C-band coexistence with attenuated classical channels, which sacrifices the performance of classical channels for lower SpRS noise. In this work, a time-interleaving technique is demonstrated to enable the co- propagation of quantum and classical channels in the C-band without sacrificing either performance. By embedding QKD pulses in the gaps between classical data frames, the quantum channel is isolated from SpRS noise in both wavelength and time domains. C-band co- propagation of a polarization-encoding decoy-state BB84 QKD channel with a 100 Gb/s QPSK channel is experimentally demonstrated with quantum bit error rate (QBER) of 1.12%, 2.04%, and 3.81% and secure key rates (SKR) of 39.5 kb/s, 6.35 kb/s, and 128 b/s over 20, 50, and 100 km fibers, respectively. These results were achieved with the presence of classical launch power up to 10 dBm, which is at least one order of magnitude higher than reported works. We also demonstrated the co- propagation of a QKD channel with eight classical channels with total launch power up to 18-dBm (9-dBm per channel), which is the highest power of classical channels reported in C-band coexistence works.
In this paper, we investigate the impact of classical optical communications in quantum key distribution (QKD) over hollow-core fiber (HCF), multi-core fiber (MCF) and single-core fiber (SCF) and propose wavelength allocation schemes to enhance QKD performance. Firstly, we theoretically analyze noise interference in QKD over HCF, MCF and SCF, such as spontaneous Raman scattering (SpRS) and four-wave mixing (FWM). To mitigate these noise types and optimize QKD performance, we propose a joint noise suppression wavelength allocation (JSWA) scheme. FWM noise suppression wavelength allocation and Raman noise suppression wavelength allocation are also proposed for comparison. The JSWA scheme indicates a significant enhancement in extending the simultaneous transmission distance of classical signals and QKD, reaching approximately 100 km in HCF and 165 km in MCF under a classical power per channel of 10 dBm. Therefore, MCF offers a longer secure transmission distance compared with HCF when classical signals and QKD coexist in the C-band. However, when classical signals are in the C-band and QKD operates in the O-band, the performance of QKD in HCF surpasses that in MCF. This research establishes technical foundations for the design and deployment of QKD optical networks.
Quantum key distribution (QKD) generates symmetric keys between two remote parties and guarantees the keys are not accessible to any third party. Wavelength-division multiplexing between QKD and classical optical communications by sharing the existing fiber-optics infrastructure is highly desired in order to reduce the cost of QKD applications. However, comparing to the light for classical transmission, quantum signals are very weak and easily affected by impairments from classical light, such as the spontaneous Raman-scattering effect. Here, by selecting an optimal wavelength of quantum signals, we significantly reduce the influence of the Raman-scattering effect. In addition, through coherent optical communication technology, we achieve high-speed classical data transmission with relatively low launch powers, thereby further reducing the impairments from classical light. As a result, we realize the multiplexing and long-distance copropagation of QKD and terabit classical data transmission up to 80 km. The data capacity is two orders of magnitude larger than the existing results. Our demonstration verifies the feasibility of QKD and classical communication to share the resources of backbone fiber links and thus taking the utility of QKD a great step forward.
We theoretically study the issues for long-distance transmission of quantum key distribution (QKD) coexisting with classical signals. The recently proposed phase-matching QKD protocol can drastically improve the transmission distance of QKD. However, in the coexistence system, the noise generated by classical signals, especially spontaneous Raman scattering noise, is a big challenge. Moreover, the classical optical amplifier, which is necessary for the realistic long-distance classical communication, makes the noise more serious. In view of this, we establish the unified Raman noise model for three discrete-variable QKD protocols (BB84, measurement-device-independent and phase-matching QKD protocols) in the presence of classical optical amplifiers, which can be applied to both single-core single-mode fiber and multicore fiber. Then, we derive the key rate of the three QKD protocols coexisting with classical signals using the proposed unified Raman noise model. Finally, simulation results show that multicore fiber is promising for simultaneous long-distance transmission of QKD and the dense wavelength division multiplexing system.
Integrating quantum key distribution (QKD) with classical optical communication is a deployment-friendly and cost-effective approach to advancing QKD network implementation. However, the noise introduced by intense classical signals into the quantum channel severely impacts the performance of the QKD system, presenting challenges for long-distance coexistence transmission. In this paper, we successfully demonstrate the simultaneous propagation of QKD and optical transport network (OTN) in the C-band over distances exceeding 100 km. We establish a coexistence transmission system based on a commercial OTN equipment and QKD device equipped with the Fabry-Perot filters, demonstrating the feasibility of combining QKD with 11 Tbps (110×100 Gbps) classical data over a 101.86 km fiber. To investigate longer transmission distances, we employ an optimized wavelength allocation method and conduct the co-propagation of QKD and 1 Tbps classical data over a 152.34 km fiber. To the best of our knowledge, these results are the first time that report the integration of QKD and large-capacity classical communication over hundred-kilometer scale fiber. Our works represent a significant advancement in developing OTN networks incorporating QKD systems.