Abstract— We examined several widely used amplitude and phase modulation methods for classical signals for exchanging support information in the process of quantum key distribution in satellite-to-ground communication. Based on the communication channel modeling, we compare noise immunity and the useful information transmission rate for various types of modulation as the main characteristics of communication protocols.
Abstract— We examined several widely used amplitude and phase modulation methods for classical signals for exchanging support information in the process of quantum key distribution in satellite-to-ground communication. Based on the communication channel modeling, we compare noise immunity and the useful information transmission rate for various types of modulation as the main characteristics of communication protocols.
The article analyzes the main trends in the field of optimization of information transmission processes using quantum methods. It is shown that numerical modeling of satellite optical communication systems is necessary in order to determine the most effective modes and parameters of communication equipment. This article is devoted to the problem of developing a software package for calculating the characteristics of a communication channel between a ground station and an artificial Earth satellite. A detailed description of the basic functions of the developed software package for calculating the characteristics of an Earth-satellite optical communication channel protected by QKD technology is presented. Based on numerical modeling using the developed software package, a comprehensive study of the influence of atmospheric losses, as well as various parameters of the receiving and transmitting equipment of both the ground station and the satellite, is carried out. In particular, when modeling the efficiency of satellite quantum key distribution and an optical communication channel, atmospheric phenomena such as refraction, absorption, aerosol scattering, as well as the parameters of the QKD equipment were taken into account. Modeling revealed the need to take into account many aspects to achieve maximum efficiency of the QKD in real conditions. It is shown that the developed software for flexible modeling of various scenarios for using atmospheric optical communications opens up new opportunities for research and practical application of quantum technologies in the field of information security, which is important for data protection in the face of growing cybersecurity threats. It is shown that the capabilities of the developed software package can contribute to the creation of standardized approaches to assessing and improving quantum key distribution systems.
Abstract Satellite‐to‐ground quantum communication constitutes the cornerstone of the global quantum network, heralding the advent of the future of quantum information. Continuous‐variable quantum key distribution is a strong candidate for the space‐ground quantum communication due to its simplicity, stability, and ease of implementation, especially for the robustness of space background light noise. Recently, the discrete‐modulated continuous‐variable protocol has garnered increased attention, owing to its lower implementation requirements, acceptable security key rate, and pronounced compatibility with extant infrastructures. Here, key rates are derived for discrete‐modulated continuous‐variable quantum key distribution protocols in free‐space channel environments across various conditions through numerical simulation, revealing the viability of its application in satellite‐to‐ground communication.
This paper develops a hybrid quantum channel model tailored for finite-regime quantum key distribution (QKD) in free-space satellite quantum communication. The channel model addresses the fading characteristics of satellite-to-ground links while incorporating the dynamics of satellite orbits. By conducting a comprehensive security analysis under finite-size effects and collective attacks, the research bridges the theoretical and practical aspects of satellite-based QKD. Critical parameters, such as reconciliation efficiency, transmission coefficient, detection efficiency, receiver telescope aperture, beam waist, and effective communication time, are systematically investigated to optimize the secret key rate. The study reveals key trade-offs between the influence of satellite altitude on communication windows, noise levels, and synchronization, which significantly impact quantum channel efficiency. The model improves the accuracy of free-space quantum channel evaluations by presenting a hybrid noise framework that combines quantum Poissonian noise with classical additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN). Our numerical results demonstrate the feasibility and robustness of finite-regime QKD for uplink and downlink configurations in various atmospheric conditions, highlighting the superiority of satellite-based quantum communication over conventional networks.
Abstract Establishing secure communication links at a global scale is a major potential application of quantum information science but also extremely challenging for the underlying technology. Although milestone experiments using satellite-to-ground links and exploiting singe-photon encoding for implementing quantum key distribution have shown recently that this goal is achievable, it is still necessary to further investigate practical solutions compatible with classical optical communication systems. Here, we examine the feasibility of establishing secret keys in a satellite-to-ground downlink configuration using continuous-variable encoding, which can be implemented using standard telecommunication components certified for space environment and able to operate at high symbol rates. Considering a realistic channel model and state-of-the-art technology, and exploiting an orbit subdivision technique for mitigating fluctuations in the transmission efficiency, we find positive secret key rates for a low-Earth-orbit scenario, whereas finite-size effects can be a limiting factor for higher orbits. Our analysis determines regions of values for important experimental parameters where secret key exchange is possible and can be used as a guideline for experimental efforts in this direction.
Continuous variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) has emerged as a promising candidate for quantum-secure communication due to its experimentally demonstrated high key rates in fiber-optic channels. However, the feasibility of discrete modulation CV-QKD in satellite-to-ground downlinks remains an open question due to practical challenges such as high transmission loss, limited communication windows, and atmospheric turbulence. In this work, a comprehensive framework is proposed to evaluate the feasibility of discrete modulation CV-QKD by integrating orbital dynamics and atmospheric channel models, and to comprehensively analyze the influence of the parameter space on free-space discrete modulation CV-QKD. To achieve this, a free-space CV-QKD simulation platform is employed, which calculates the elevation angle and transmission distance based on precise orbital models, thereby providing a more practical assessment of the key rate for discrete modulation CV-QKD. Simulation results verify the feasibility and practicality of discrete modulation CV-QKD in satellite-based quantum communication systems. Furthermore, the critical factors influencing the key rate performance are identified, and parameter optimization strategies are proposed, providing theoretical support for realizing the future satellite-to-ground discrete modulation CV-QKD.
Spread-spectrum techniques are widely used in radio communication and telecommunication. Any signal like acoustic, electrical, and electromagnetic signal produced with a specific bandwidth is spread in frequency hence results in a wider bandwidth. Spread spectrum techniques are deployed in telecommunication because of many significant advantages, e.g., to achieve secure communications, to detect the eavesdropping, to resist natural interference, to bound power flux density for satellite down links and resistance to noise and jamming. In spread spectrum technique, frequency hopping (FH) is used as a basic modulation technique by which any telecommunication signal can be transmitted on a wider bandwidth (radio bandwidth) as compared to frequency value of the original signal. Spread spectrum techniques deploy FH, direct sequence (DS), or mix of both methods so that it can be used for multiple access and reduces the interference to other receivers to get the overall privacy. At the receiver side, the received signals are correlated to extract the original information being sent. The two main motivation behind spread spectrum are: to create anti-jamming for unauthenticated person and to provide low probability of interception. The classical data transmission can also be achieved by using quantum communication protocols like dense coding, quantum key distribution (QKD), and quantum teleportation. Most of these protocols use quantum states of light to transmit the information through optical fibers. The problem of channel access become apparent when number of users increases. In classical communication networks, when many users want to use the same channel at the same time, many multiple access methods are used. On the other side, quantum communication networks also deploy frequency and wavelength division multiple access techniques, hence each user make use of same channel at different frequencies and different time instance. In addition to this, many multiple access techniques employ orbital angular momentum of single photons and coherent states. Quantum spread spectrum multiple access scheme described here for optical fibers could be used for free-space data transmission. In this scheme, multiple users send their photons via same optical fiber, sharing their path, time window, and frequency band. A number of techniques have been proposed previously for data transmission for quantum optical communication which provides heavy losses while combining and separating the transmitted data from different users. The described scheme is developed to follow classical spread spectrum methods, and also follows add-drop architecture with simple extraction and combination points.