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Optical Engineering

Low-cost lightweight-client twin-field quantum key distribution network with wavelength division multiplexing

Wenxiu Qu, Yong Zhang, Yueming Lu, Guangquan Wang

Published Jan 7, 2022• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

In recent years, quantum communication technology has gradually entered the practical stage. Multiple quantum key distribution (QKD) networks have been built and tested all over the world. However, quantum communication networking mode always evolves from a point-to-point network to a many-to-many network. The major challenges in quantum communication are secret key rate, distance, cost, and size of QKD devices. We proposed a low-cost, lightweight-client, twin-field QKD network with wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). The proposed implementation adopts polarization multiplexing, time-division multiplexing, and WDM technology to solve all these major challenges and implement a many-to-many dynamic communications network. Furthermore, our scheme can effectively reduce the cost to less than half of that of current QKD networks and has reference significance for large-scale deployment of QKD networks.

DOI
10.1117/1.oe.61.1.016102

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In recent years, quantum communication technology has gradually entered the practical stage. Multiple quantum key distribution (QKD) networks have been built and tested all over the world. However, quantum communication networking mode always evolves from a point-to-point network to a many-to-many network. The major challenges in quantum communication are secret key rate, distance, cost, and size of QKD devices. We proposed a low-cost, lightweight-client, twin-field QKD network with wavelength division multiplexing (WDM). The proposed implementation adopts polarization multiplexing, time-division multiplexing, and WDM technology to solve all these major challenges and implement a many-to-many dynamic communications network. Furthermore, our scheme can effectively reduce the cost to less than half of that of current QKD networks and has reference significance for large-scale deployment of QKD networks.
Quantum key distribution (QKD) generates information-theoretical secret keys between two parties based on the physical laws of quantum mechanics. Following the advancement in quantum communication networks, it becomes feasible and economical to combine QKD with classical optical communication through the same fiber using dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) technology. This study proposes a detailed scheme of TF-QKD protocol with DWDM technology and analyzes its performance, considering the influence of quantum channel number and adjacent quantum crosstalk on the secret key rates. The simulation results show that the scheme further increases the secret key rate of TF-QKD and its variants. Therefore, this scheme provides a method for improving the secret key rate for practical quantum networks.
Quantum key distribution (QKD) uses the laws of quantum mechanics to distribute secret keys with information-theoretic security. To realize QKD for secure communications among multiple distant users, fiber-based QKD networks can be deployed with today's available technologies. Incorporating QKD into existing wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) network infrastructure provides a practical way to reduce the difficulty and cost of QKD networking. Nonetheless, the costs of QKD nodes and QKD links are still considered as the major barriers to long-distance QKD network deployment in practice. In this work, we study how to minimize the cost of deploying QKD-over-WDM backbone networks. We introduce a general architecture of QKD-over-WDM backbone networks. A novel cost-oriented model is defined to elaborate the cost-minimized problem, in which various QKD network components including QKD transceivers, QKD auxiliary equipment for QKD backbone nodes and trusted repeater nodes (TRNs), and QKD links are considered. The physical-layer parameters such as secret-key rate, physical distance, and the layout of TRNs are also incorporated in our defined model. We develop an integer linear programming (ILP) model and a novel cost-efficient QKD networking (CEQN) heuristic algorithm to address the cost-minimized problem. The extensive simulations indicate that our proposed approaches are effective in reducing the cost of deploying QKD-over-WDM backbone networks, where the designed CEQN algorithm is efficient to demonstrate similar to the ILP model. Finally, some open issues in future work are discussed, given that this work only presents an early highlevel analysis as opposed to a definitive detailed model.
Abstract Developing quantum key distribution (QKD) has been recently directed toward distance extension and network expansion for real-world secure communications. Considering a recent report on a quantum communication network over 4,600 km, it seems that QKD networks using conventional protocols have been sufficiently studied. However, although the twin-field QKD (TF-QKD) proposed for long-distance QKD has been studied deeply enough to succeed the demonstrations over 428- and 511-km deployed fibers, TF-QKD networks have been verified only for a ring network. In this work, we propose a star topological 2 × N TF-QKD network scheme, where the coherence maintenance issue, being the primary obstacle to implementing TF-QKD, can be minimized by the automatic mode-matching feature of the Sagnac-based plug-and-play architecture. A lower number of active controllers is required for our scheme in comparison with one-way TF-QKD networks. Moreover, our scheme adopts a cost-effective configuration that requires only a single pair of single-photon detectors for the entire network system. We conducted a proof-of-concept experiment over a 50-km fiber successfully, achieving an average secret key rate of 1.31 × 10−4 bit per pulse (1.52 bit per second) with the finite-size effect.
The quantum key distribution (QKD) research, which is drawing attention as the next secure communication, is actively expanding from point to point system to network architecture. In QKD network system, it is important to increase the number of users who can securely communicate. Up to date, a wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) architecture has successfully expanded the number of channels without significant system loss, but there is a limitation of increasing channels considering the range of telecommunication wavelength and crosstalk noise, etc. In this article, we propose a polarizing division method that increases user channels independently of wavelengths. The proposed architecture can increase the number of wavelength multiplexed channels by a multiple of the polarization number. We identify the issues in the QKD network system that may occur when using polarization and wavelengths simultaneously, then provide solutions and optimize the system operation accordingly. Finally, we describe a field test result of a one to many QKD network system that shows successful key exchange with 3% QBER.
Quantum key distribution (QKD) is one of the most practical applications in quantum information processing, which can generate information-theoretical secure keys between remote parties. With the help of the wavelength-division multiplexing technique, QKD has been integrated with the classical optical communication networks. The wavelength-division multiplexing can be further improved by the mode-wavelength dual multiplexing technique with few-mode fiber (FMF), which has additional modal isolation and large effective core area of mode, and particularly is practical in fabrication and splicing technology compared with the multi-core fiber. Here, we present for the first time a QKD implementation coexisting with classical optical communication over weakly-coupled FMF using all-fiber mode-selective couplers. The co-propagation of QKD with one 100 Gbps classical data channel at -2.60 dBm launched power is achieved over 86 km FMF with 1.3 kbps real-time secure key generation. Compared with single-mode fiber using wavelength-division multiplexing, given the same fiber-input power, the Raman noise in FMF using the mode-wavelength dual multiplexing is reduced by 86% in average. Our work implements an important approach to the integration between QKD and classical optical communication and previews the compatibility of quantum communications with the next-generation mode division multiplexing networks.
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) exploits the rules of quantum mechanics to generate and securely distribute a random sequence of bits to two spatially separated clients. Typically a QKD system can support only a single pair of clients at a time, and so a separate quantum link is required for every pair of users. We overcome this limitation with the design and characterization of a multi-client entangled-photon QKD system with the capacity for up to 100 clients simultaneously. The time-bin entangled QKD system includes a broadband down-conversion source with two unique features that enable the multi-user capability. First, the photons are emitted across a very large portion of the telecom spectrum. Second, and more importantly, the photons are strongly correlated in their energy degree of freedom. Using standard wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) hardware, the photons can be routed to different parties on a quantum communication network, while the strong spectral correlations ensure that each client is linked only to the client receiving the conjugate wavelength. In this way, a single down-conversion source can support dozens of channels simultaneously--and to the extent that the WDM hardware can send different spectral channels to different clients, the system can support multiple client pairings. We will describe the design and characterization of the down-conversion source, as well as the client stations, which must be tunable across the emission spectrum.