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Optics Letters

10 Gb/s physical-layer key distribution in fiber using amplified spontaneous emission

Xinran Huang, Liuming Zhang, Zhi Chai, Zanwei Shen, Qi Wu, Weisheng Hu, Xuelin Yang

Published Dec 15, 2022• 17 citations
Publisher

Abstract

High-speed physical-layer secure key generation and distribution (SKGD) schemes via channel reciprocity are achieved using external electro-optical modulation or random source distribution via additional fiber links. Here, we propose and demonstrate an SKGD scheme using the fluctuation of polarization states from an amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) source, without any external electro-optical modulation or additional fiber link. Experimentally, an error-free key generation rate (KGR) of 10.1 Gb/s is achieved over a 10-km standard single-mode fiber (SSMF), with true randomness originating from ASE. Moreover, the single fiber channel can be shared for SKGD as well as data transmission, allowing the integration of the proposed SKGD with the deployed fiber infrastructure.

DOI
10.1364/ol.479999

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High-speed physical-layer secure key generation and distribution (SKGD) schemes via channel reciprocity are achieved using external electro-optical modulation or random source distribution via additional fiber links. Here, we propose and demonstrate an SKGD scheme using the fluctuation of polarization states from an amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) source, without any external electro-optical modulation or additional fiber link. Experimentally, an error-free key generation rate (KGR) of 10.1 Gb/s is achieved over a 10-km standard single-mode fiber (SSMF), with true randomness originating from ASE. Moreover, the single fiber channel can be shared for SKGD as well as data transmission, allowing the integration of the proposed SKGD with the deployed fiber infrastructure.
Amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise with inherent quantum nature is promising for true random number generator (TRNG) and secure key generation and distribution (SKGD). A high-speed TRNG and a physical-layer SKGD scheme are proposed and demonstrated using the polarization dynamics of an ASE source. The ASE-based randomness is enhanced in TRNG using digital signal processing on the two orthogonal polarization modes, while the fluctuation of the state of polarization (SOP) in ASE is applied as the random source in SKGD. A 16.8 Tb/s TRNG is successfully demonstrated with spectrum slicing of ASE. An error-free SKGD with a key generation rate (KGR) of 10.1 Gb/s is demonstrated over a 10-km standard single-mode fiber channel.
Dynamic properties of optical signals in fiber channel provide a unique, random and reciprocal source for physical-layer secure key generation and distribution (SKGD). In this paper, an inherent physical-layer SKGD scheme is proposed and demonstrated, where the random source is originated from the dynamic fluctuation of the instant state of polarization (SOP) of optical signals in fiber. Due to the channel reciprocity, highly-correlated fluctuation of Stokes parameter of SOP is shared between the legal partners, where an error-free key generation rate (KGR) of 196-bit/s is successfully demonstrated over 25-km standard single-mode fiber (SSMF). In addition, an active polarization scrambler is deployed in fiber to increase the KGR, where an error-free KGR of 200-kbit/s is achieved.
A physical-layer secure key generation and distribution (SKGD) scheme in classical fiber channel is proposed and demonstrated using a bidirectional wide-band polarization scrambler (WBPS), to alter rapidly and symmetrically the state of polarization (SOP) for the two counter-propagating optical signals in fiber. Due to the optical channel reciprocity, highly-consistent key bits can be extracted from the correlated SOP fluctuations, while the key secrecy is ensured by the fiber channel uniqueness. A final key generation rate (KGR) of 2.7 Gb/s is demonstrated over 10 km single mode fiber (SMF), where error-free and true randomness of the generated key are achieved after post-processing. The obtained KGR at Gb/s makes a further step towards the implementation of one-time-pad data encryption with perfect secrecy in fiber networks.
The physical-layer properties of the classical optical fiber channel provide an inherent, unique, random and reciprocal source for secure key generation and distribution (SKGD). However, the key generation rate (KGR) is generally less than kbit/s in the reported SKGD schemes. In this paper, an accelerated SKGD scheme based on active polarization scrambling is proposed in the classical optical fiber channel. A combination of unique birefringence distribution of optical fiber channel and active scrambling of instant state of polarization (SOP) enables a fast and random SOP fluctuation to be securely shared between the legitimate users for accelerated SKGD. The proposed SKGD scheme is experimentally demonstrated over 24-km standard single-mode fiber (SSMF), where a KGR of 200-kbit/s with an error-free operation is achieved after the post-processing procedure. Moreover, the possible fiber-tapping attacks are theoretically and experimentally analyzed for the security robustness of the proposed scheme. The results imply that a faster SKGD scheme could be achieved by incorporating an active polarization scrambling mechanism into the random properties of the fiber channel.
Physical layer secure key distribution (PLSKD) in fiber networks provides high-level security originating from the channel uniqueness, while the channel reciprocity is shared between the legal users via bidirectional transmission. To ensure the key consistency, perfect wideband bidirectional optical devices are required for high-speed PLSKD. Here, we propose and demonstrate a unidirectional PLSKD scheme, where the channel reciprocity is reproduced by neural networks (NNs) so that highly correlated key waveforms are generated and shared between the legal users. Experimental results show that an error-free key generation rate (KGR) of 3.8 Gb/s with excellent randomness is achieved for an 11-km standard single-mode fiber (SSMF) channel. The proposed scheme alleviates the stringent requirement of bidirectional channel transmission in high-speed PLSKD and enables the integration of PLSKD and data transmission in the same fiber channel.