Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Journal of Lightwave Technology

Synergistic Resource Allocation for Hybrid Quantum-Classical Optical Networks: Routing, Wavelength Assignment, and Power Configuration

Yuhang Liu, Xiaosong Yu, Yongli Zhao, Yuan Cao, Avishek Nag, Jie Zhang

Published Mar 13, 2026• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Optical communications provide high capacity and scalability, while quantum communications, particularly through quantum key distribution (QKD), enable information-theoretic security. However, it still remains challenging to deliver both high throughput communication and long-term security within a hybrid quantum-classical optical network. Specifically, classical optical resources can be reallocated to support QKD, aiming to achieve synergistic resource utilization that surpasses the sum of individual functionalities. In this work, we formulate a networking model that captures the resource allocation constraints, aiming to figure out the necessary conversion of classical optical resources to QKD capacity while maintain the connectivity of classical optical communication. Based on that, we propose a synergistic resource allocation strategy, implemented through heuristic routing, wavelength assignment, and power configuration (SRWP) algorithms. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed SRWP algorithm, with the objective of network-wide average secret key rate (SKR) maximization (SRWP-ARM), enhances the average SKR from the order of kbit/s to Mbit/s at GHz-level pulse repetition rates. In a 9-node mesh network topology with 50 km links, the algorithm achieves this gain with zero service blocking under a traffic load of 100 erlangs. At a higher load of 300 erlangs, it maintains a service blocking probability as low as 1.24% while still achieving an average SKR of 18.05 kbit/s. This represents the best trade-off between classical service connectivity and secret key generation across all evaluated algorithms.

DOI
10.1109/jlt.2026.3673939

Related papers

Quantum-aware routing and wavelength assignment for classical traffic in hybrid quantum-classical optical networks

Yuhang Liu, Xiaosong Yu, Yuan Cao +2 more

As a prototype of quantum communications, quantum key distribution (QKD) is recommended for integration into the existing optical infrastructures to enable scalable quantum networking. This necessitates the development of supporting resource allocation strategies for carrier-grade operations. In this work, we propose a quantum-aware RWA framework with dual-granularity power control (QRA-PC) to mitigate quantum-classical interference under hybrid network constraints. In a 9-node mesh network with 1 GHz discrete-variable QKD systems coexisting in the C-band, QRA-PC with local power control mode achieves an average SKR of 891.9 kb/s at a traffic load of 50 erlangs, compared to the first-fit baseline of 50.4 kb/s. This result is achieved without incurring any classical traffic blocking.

Optics Express•Nov 11, 2025•3 citations

From Unilateral Adaptive to Bilateral Synergistic Routing and Wavelength Assignment: Enabling End-to-End Quantum Key Distribution over Classical Optical Networks

Yuhang Liu, Xiaosong Yu, Yongli Zhao +3 more

With the continual growth in user communication needs, classical optical communications are facing developmental bottlenecks. On one hand, the communication capacity of available optical fiber resources is approaching its upper limit. On the other hand, emerging quantum computing technology poses security threats. Quantum key distribution (QKD), as a representative quantum cryptography technology, is being introduced into existing optical infrastructure to mitigate security threats. It also has pioneering application value for next-generation quantum information networks. However, limited optical fiber resources struggle to support the introduction of quantum communication over classical optical networks. There are also incompatible noise factors between the two communication paradigms. This paper proposes transitioning from unilateral adaptive routing and wavelength assignment (ARW A) to bilateral synergistic RW A (SRW A) to facilitate the coexistence of two heterogeneous communication paradigms in optical networks. Simulations have proven SRW A can increase end-to-end key supply rates from bit/s to kbit/s levels. It has an enabling effect on QKD over classical optical networks.

International Conference on Communications•Jun 9, 2024•1 citation

A Resource Allocation Scheme for Independent Core Transmission of Quantum Key Distribution

Lingfeng Lu, Yongmei Sun, Yaoxian Gao +1 more

To ensure the security of optical networks in the future, integrating quantum key distribution (QKD) with optical networks is one of the solutions. Moreover, the optical network based on multi-core fiber (MCF) is also one of the ways to improve the transmission capacity. Therefore, we study the integration of QKD into MCF-enabled optical networks. Aiming at the resource allocation problem of MCF-enabled wavelength division multiplexing optical networks, this paper proposes a resource allocation scheme which is suitable for independent-core-transmission of classical signals and quantum signals. For core resource, we propose the alternate core allocation algorithm. For wavelength resource, we propose the iteration-based wavelength allocation algorithm. The overall scheme uses the proposed two algorithms to first allocate the core and then allocate the wavelength. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme has a great improvement in secret key rate (SKR) compared with the benchmark scheme on the regular hexagonal 7-core fiber and 19-core fiber. And the proposed scheme still has good performance under long transmission distance and high classical signal power.

IEEE International Conference on Communication Technology (ICCT)•Nov 11, 2022•1 citation

Synergistic Resource Allocation in Space Division Multiplexed Data Center Optical Networks Secured with Quantum Key Distribution

Xueqin Ren, Yongmei Sun, Chuan Xie +1 more

In this article, we propose two novel core prioritization and crosstalk aware (CP-XT-Aware) algorithms, including CP-XT-Aware with wavelength grouping (CPWG-XT-Aware) and CP-XT-Aware with wavelength reservation (CPWR-XT-Aware), aiming to realize the synergistic transmission of classical and quantum signals in quantum key distribution (QKD)-enabled optical data center networks based on wavelength-division-multiplexing and space-division-multiplexing, For comparison, we introduce the core and wavelength random allocation without XT-Aware, called the CWRA. Analytical simulations show that the both proposed algorithms can simultaneously improve the average secure key rate and reduce blocking probabilities under dynamic traffic scenarios in different network topologies, compared to the CWRA. Particularly, the CPWG-XT-Aware performs exceptionally well in QKD under the low traffic load, while the CPWR-XT-Aware excels under the high traffic load.

Asia Communications and Photonics Conference•Nov 4, 2023•5 citations

Resource Allocation in Space Division Multiplexed Elastic Optical Networks Secured With Quantum Key Distribution

Elham Ehsani Moghaddam, Hamzeh Beyranvand, Jawad A. Salehi

Elastic Optical Network (EON) is a promising solution to address the high capacity, low latency, and flexibility requirements of the upcoming 5th-generation (5G) networks. Furthermore, Multi-Core Fibers (MCFs) and Space Division Multiplexing (SDM) technique can be utilized to overcome the capacity limitation of the conventional Single Mode Fibers (SMFs). On the other hand, Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is an effective solution to address the security issues in 5G transport networks. In this paper, we investigate the performance of QKD over elastic optical networks with multi-core fibers and address the resource allocation problem for quantum and classical channels of QKD (QChs and CChs) and conventional data channels (DChs). To do so, we calculate the background noise caused by different noise sources and accordingly calculate the Secret Key Rate (SKR) in quantum channels. Then, we propose an Integer Linear Programming formulation and a heuristic algorithm to allocate network resources (spectrum, core, and links) to QChs, CChs, and DChs, with the objective of maximizing the secret key rate and minimizing the number of utilized frequency slots (FSs). Finally, we evaluate the proposed ILP and heuristic algorithm in terms of SKR and the number of utilized FSs. In our simulations, we consider core and metro topologies, fixed and distance adaptive launch power for classical signals, different fiber specifications, and different assumptions regarding the relative locations of quantum and classical channels in a multi-core fiber.

IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications•Mar 9, 2021•61 citations

Dynamic Security-Aware Resource Allocation in Quantum Key Distribution-Enabled Optical Networks

Vimal Bhatia, Adolph Timothy Kasegenya, Bowen Chen

The demand for secure communication in the age of quantum technologies has driven progress in quantum key distribution (QKD) techniques for optical networks. This research addresses the issues of high blocking probabilities (BPs) and the proper utilization of quantum resources in varying network loads by introducing a novel heuristic approach, termed dynamic security-aware quantum resource allocation (D-SQRA), designed for dynamic resource allocation in QKD-enabled optical networks. We propose two D-SQRA algorithms to employ an adaptive resource assignment (RA) strategy that concurrently addresses routing, wavelength, and time-slot selection while dynamically modifying security levels according to the real-time network load and resource availability. We evaluate the proposed D-SQRA performance against two conventional methods, namely, fixed security quantum resource allocation (F-SQRA) and baseline quantum resource allocation (B-QRA). We discuss the results for NSFNET and UBN24 topologies for network security performance metrics such as network security performance (NSP), BP, quantum key utilization (QKU), and time-slot utilization. The results show that the proposed D-SQRA algorithms provide significant improvement with respect to conventional techniques in addressing proper resource utilization and management by reducing BPs of the new incoming connection requests.

Photonics•Jun 25, 2025•6 citations
Optical communications provide high capacity and scalability, while quantum communications, particularly through quantum key distribution (QKD), enable information-theoretic security. However, it still remains challenging to deliver both high throughput communication and long-term security within a hybrid quantum-classical optical network. Specifically, classical optical resources can be reallocated to support QKD, aiming to achieve synergistic resource utilization that surpasses the sum of individual functionalities. In this work, we formulate a networking model that captures the resource allocation constraints, aiming to figure out the necessary conversion of classical optical resources to QKD capacity while maintain the connectivity of classical optical communication. Based on that, we propose a synergistic resource allocation strategy, implemented through heuristic routing, wavelength assignment, and power configuration (SRWP) algorithms. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed SRWP algorithm, with the objective of network-wide average secret key rate (SKR) maximization (SRWP-ARM), enhances the average SKR from the order of kbit/s to Mbit/s at GHz-level pulse repetition rates. In a 9-node mesh network topology with 50 km links, the algorithm achieves this gain with zero service blocking under a traffic load of 100 erlangs. At a higher load of 300 erlangs, it maintains a service blocking probability as low as 1.24% while still achieving an average SKR of 18.05 kbit/s. This represents the best trade-off between classical service connectivity and secret key generation across all evaluated algorithms.
As a prototype of quantum communications, quantum key distribution (QKD) is recommended for integration into the existing optical infrastructures to enable scalable quantum networking. This necessitates the development of supporting resource allocation strategies for carrier-grade operations. In this work, we propose a quantum-aware RWA framework with dual-granularity power control (QRA-PC) to mitigate quantum-classical interference under hybrid network constraints. In a 9-node mesh network with 1 GHz discrete-variable QKD systems coexisting in the C-band, QRA-PC with local power control mode achieves an average SKR of 891.9 kb/s at a traffic load of 50 erlangs, compared to the first-fit baseline of 50.4 kb/s. This result is achieved without incurring any classical traffic blocking.
With the continual growth in user communication needs, classical optical communications are facing developmental bottlenecks. On one hand, the communication capacity of available optical fiber resources is approaching its upper limit. On the other hand, emerging quantum computing technology poses security threats. Quantum key distribution (QKD), as a representative quantum cryptography technology, is being introduced into existing optical infrastructure to mitigate security threats. It also has pioneering application value for next-generation quantum information networks. However, limited optical fiber resources struggle to support the introduction of quantum communication over classical optical networks. There are also incompatible noise factors between the two communication paradigms. This paper proposes transitioning from unilateral adaptive routing and wavelength assignment (ARW A) to bilateral synergistic RW A (SRW A) to facilitate the coexistence of two heterogeneous communication paradigms in optical networks. Simulations have proven SRW A can increase end-to-end key supply rates from bit/s to kbit/s levels. It has an enabling effect on QKD over classical optical networks.
To ensure the security of optical networks in the future, integrating quantum key distribution (QKD) with optical networks is one of the solutions. Moreover, the optical network based on multi-core fiber (MCF) is also one of the ways to improve the transmission capacity. Therefore, we study the integration of QKD into MCF-enabled optical networks. Aiming at the resource allocation problem of MCF-enabled wavelength division multiplexing optical networks, this paper proposes a resource allocation scheme which is suitable for independent-core-transmission of classical signals and quantum signals. For core resource, we propose the alternate core allocation algorithm. For wavelength resource, we propose the iteration-based wavelength allocation algorithm. The overall scheme uses the proposed two algorithms to first allocate the core and then allocate the wavelength. The simulation results show that the proposed scheme has a great improvement in secret key rate (SKR) compared with the benchmark scheme on the regular hexagonal 7-core fiber and 19-core fiber. And the proposed scheme still has good performance under long transmission distance and high classical signal power.
In this article, we propose two novel core prioritization and crosstalk aware (CP-XT-Aware) algorithms, including CP-XT-Aware with wavelength grouping (CPWG-XT-Aware) and CP-XT-Aware with wavelength reservation (CPWR-XT-Aware), aiming to realize the synergistic transmission of classical and quantum signals in quantum key distribution (QKD)-enabled optical data center networks based on wavelength-division-multiplexing and space-division-multiplexing, For comparison, we introduce the core and wavelength random allocation without XT-Aware, called the CWRA. Analytical simulations show that the both proposed algorithms can simultaneously improve the average secure key rate and reduce blocking probabilities under dynamic traffic scenarios in different network topologies, compared to the CWRA. Particularly, the CPWG-XT-Aware performs exceptionally well in QKD under the low traffic load, while the CPWR-XT-Aware excels under the high traffic load.
Elastic Optical Network (EON) is a promising solution to address the high capacity, low latency, and flexibility requirements of the upcoming 5th-generation (5G) networks. Furthermore, Multi-Core Fibers (MCFs) and Space Division Multiplexing (SDM) technique can be utilized to overcome the capacity limitation of the conventional Single Mode Fibers (SMFs). On the other hand, Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is an effective solution to address the security issues in 5G transport networks. In this paper, we investigate the performance of QKD over elastic optical networks with multi-core fibers and address the resource allocation problem for quantum and classical channels of QKD (QChs and CChs) and conventional data channels (DChs). To do so, we calculate the background noise caused by different noise sources and accordingly calculate the Secret Key Rate (SKR) in quantum channels. Then, we propose an Integer Linear Programming formulation and a heuristic algorithm to allocate network resources (spectrum, core, and links) to QChs, CChs, and DChs, with the objective of maximizing the secret key rate and minimizing the number of utilized frequency slots (FSs). Finally, we evaluate the proposed ILP and heuristic algorithm in terms of SKR and the number of utilized FSs. In our simulations, we consider core and metro topologies, fixed and distance adaptive launch power for classical signals, different fiber specifications, and different assumptions regarding the relative locations of quantum and classical channels in a multi-core fiber.
The demand for secure communication in the age of quantum technologies has driven progress in quantum key distribution (QKD) techniques for optical networks. This research addresses the issues of high blocking probabilities (BPs) and the proper utilization of quantum resources in varying network loads by introducing a novel heuristic approach, termed dynamic security-aware quantum resource allocation (D-SQRA), designed for dynamic resource allocation in QKD-enabled optical networks. We propose two D-SQRA algorithms to employ an adaptive resource assignment (RA) strategy that concurrently addresses routing, wavelength, and time-slot selection while dynamically modifying security levels according to the real-time network load and resource availability. We evaluate the proposed D-SQRA performance against two conventional methods, namely, fixed security quantum resource allocation (F-SQRA) and baseline quantum resource allocation (B-QRA). We discuss the results for NSFNET and UBN24 topologies for network security performance metrics such as network security performance (NSP), BP, quantum key utilization (QKU), and time-slot utilization. The results show that the proposed D-SQRA algorithms provide significant improvement with respect to conventional techniques in addressing proper resource utilization and management by reducing BPs of the new incoming connection requests.