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IEEE photonics journal

Real-Time Phase Tracking Scheme With Mismatched-Basis Data for Phase-Coding Quantum Key Distribution

Dong Wang, Xiaotian Song, Liangjiang Zhou, Yibo Zhao

Published Apr 13, 2020• 9 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Phase drift is an inevitable problem in the practical implementation of phase-coding quantum key distribution (QKD) systems. Conventional active phase tracking and compensation solutions cannot be implemented during the key transmission process, resulting in reduced efficiency of the system. In this paper, we propose a single-photon level real-time phase tracking scheme using only the estimated quantum bit error rate (QBER) and mismatched-basis data to acquire the phase drift parameter instead of a phase scanning process or reference light pulses, without extra hardware or interrupting the transmission of quantum signals. This scheme is applied into a phase-coding QKD system with active phase disturbance and obtains an average QBER of $1.01\%$ with a standard derivation of $0.37\%$ over 50 h of continuous operation. Experimental results show that this scheme enables QKD systems to operate continuously with long-term stability and keep a low level of QBER even with rapid phase drift, suggesting its suitability for practical applications.

DOI
10.1109/jphot.2020.2986343

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Phase drift is an inevitable problem in the practical implementation of phase-coding quantum key distribution (QKD) systems. Conventional active phase tracking and compensation solutions cannot be implemented during the key transmission process, resulting in reduced efficiency of the system. In this paper, we propose a single-photon level real-time phase tracking scheme using only the estimated quantum bit error rate (QBER) and mismatched-basis data to acquire the phase drift parameter instead of a phase scanning process or reference light pulses, without extra hardware or interrupting the transmission of quantum signals. This scheme is applied into a phase-coding QKD system with active phase disturbance and obtains an average QBER of 1.01%1.01\%1.01% with a standard derivation of 0.37%0.37\%0.37% over 50 h of continuous operation. Experimental results show that this scheme enables QKD systems to operate continuously with long-term stability and keep a low level of QBER even with rapid phase drift, suggesting its suitability for practical applications.
Phase drift is an inherent problem in phase-encoded quantum key distribution (QKD) systems. The current active phase tracking and compensation solutions cannot satisfy the requirements of a system with nonlinearity in phase modulation. This paper presents a four-phase scanning method, which is based on the quantitative analysis of the quantum bit error rate (QBER) from phase drift and the performance requirements of phase compensation. By obtaining the four interference fringes and adjusting the coding matrix of the system, this method automatically calculates the accurate driving voltages for the phase modulator. The implementation and experimental tests show that the proposed method can compensate phase drift caused by environmental changes and the system’s nonlinearity, and is applicable to large-scale QKD networks.
Quantum communication systems are susceptible to various perturbations and drifts arising from the operational environment, with phase drift being a crucial challenge. In this paper, we propose an efficient real-time phase drift compensation scheme in which only existing data from the quantum communication process is used to establish a stable closed-loop control subsystem for phase tracking. This scheme ensures the continuous operation of transmission by tracking and compensating for phase drift in the phase-encoding quantum communication system. The experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed scheme with an average quantum bit error rate of 1.60% and a standard deviation of 0.0583% for 16 h of continuous operation.
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) systems face challenges due to quantum state drift caused by environmental variations. This paper introduces a phase drift compensation algorithm for QKD systems based on Long Short Term Memory (LSTM) networks. This algorithm only learns, predicts, and compensates for phase drift from intermediate data generated during QKD transmission, without the need for additional data acquisition modules such as environmental monitoring. The experimental results show that the algorithm has high accuracy in tracking phase drift. It performs well on the test set and can accurately match actual scanned data. When implemented in practical GHz QKD systems, this algorithm can increase transmission efficiency by 15 % without reducing the bit error rate. In addition, as the algorithm does not rely on environmental monitoring equipment or high-intensity emission light conditions, it enhances the security of the system and reduces potential security risks.
The calibration of the polarization basis between the transmitter and receiver is an important task in quantum key distribution. A continuously working polarization-basis tracking scheme (PBTS) will effectively promote the efficiency of the system and reduce the potential security risk when switching between the transmission and calibration modes. Here, we proposed a single-photon level continuously working PBTS using only sifted key bits revealed during an error correction procedure, without introducing additional reference light or interrupting the transmission of quantum signals. We applied the scheme to a polarization-encoding BB84 QKD system in a 50 km fiber channel, and obtained an average quantum bit error rate (QBER) of 2.32% and a standard derivation of 0.87% during 24 h of continuous operation. The stable and relatively low QBER validates the effectiveness of the scheme.
Phase drift is the main source of errors for phase encoding quantum key distribution(QKD) system,and it is an important factor influencing the practical applications of the system.At present,there are some kinds of methods to solve the phase drift problem.They may reduce the phase drift to some extent,but they also have many shortcomings,such as large amount of calculation,low accuracy and complex system.In this paper,we put forward a kind of active phase compensation method based on least squares.Scanning a small number phase points under the condition of a single photon,we can get phase compensation parameters by applying the least square algorithm.The experimental results show that the method gains phase drift parameter in shorter time with less computational cost to complete the realtime active compensation.It can improve the QKD system′s performance and efficiency to a certain extent.
Phase drift caused by environment is the main source of quantum bit error rate and instability in the double M-Z interferometer quantum key distribution(QKD) system. The phase drift consists of both high-frequency and low-frequency vibrations, the former, which is due to environment noise, is usually conducted via the atmosphere and can be isolated by technological measures (e.g. using foamed-plastics wrapping or rubber pillow ), the latter comes from building-vibration, which vibrates slowly with a serious impact on M-Z interferometer, with a period of 3±0.32 min (min level). A novel real-time tracking and compensation method for phase drift caused by low-frequency vibration is proposed. With the improved scheme, the QKD system based on double M-Z interferometers can operate stably for 24 hours, and key exchange with an error below 6% over 75 kilometers has been achieved in the lab.