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Optics Express

Parallel secure key distribution based on injection-wavelength-shift keying of Fabry-Pérot lasers

Hua Gao, Yuanyuan Guo, Pengfa Chang, Zhiwei Jia, Longsheng Wang

Published Aug 12, 2026• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Secure key distribution based on chaos synchronization has attracted more and more attention due to its high-speed and multi-dimensional security. However, the distribution rate is constrained by the synchronization recovery time, remaining lower than the requirements of modern communication systems. Here, we proposed and simulated a parallel key distribution scheme based on injection-wavelength-shift keying chaos synchronization of Fabry-Pérot lasers. Synchronization can be achieved when the wavelengths of the injection signals are the same. The linewidth of the injection signal covers two modes of the Fabry-Pérot lasers, and then two single-mode laser signals can be generated through the subsequent single-mode filtering to be used as independent entropy sources. The random key sequences extracted from the single-mode signals are theoretically consistent when synchronized, thus the parallel secure key distribution is realized. Moreover, the Fabry-Pérot lasers are not equipped with a feedback loop, so the synchronization recovery time is only around 150 ps. Due to the benefits of the parallel key distribution and the shortened synchronization recovery time, the distribution rate is increased to 670.97 Mbit/s under the same-frequency extraction method and to 7.64 Gbit/s under the frequency-multiplication extraction method. This scheme provides a candidate for higher-speed physical key distribution.

DOI
10.1364/oe.604222

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Secure key distribution based on chaos synchronization has attracted more and more attention due to its high-speed and multi-dimensional security. However, the distribution rate is constrained by the synchronization recovery time, remaining lower than the requirements of modern communication systems. Here, we proposed and simulated a parallel key distribution scheme based on injection-wavelength-shift keying chaos synchronization of Fabry-Pérot lasers. Synchronization can be achieved when the wavelengths of the injection signals are the same. The linewidth of the injection signal covers two modes of the Fabry-Pérot lasers, and then two single-mode laser signals can be generated through the subsequent single-mode filtering to be used as independent entropy sources. The random key sequences extracted from the single-mode signals are theoretically consistent when synchronized, thus the parallel secure key distribution is realized. Moreover, the Fabry-Pérot lasers are not equipped with a feedback loop, so the synchronization recovery time is only around 150 ps. Due to the benefits of the parallel key distribution and the shortened synchronization recovery time, the distribution rate is increased to 670.97 Mbit/s under the same-frequency extraction method and to 7.64 Gbit/s under the frequency-multiplication extraction method. This scheme provides a candidate for higher-speed physical key distribution.
Abstract High-speed physical key distribution is diligently pursued for secure communication. In this paper, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a scheme of high-speed key distribution using mode-shift keying chaos synchronization between two multi-longitudinal-mode Fabry–Perot lasers commonly driven by a super-luminescent diode. Legitimate users dynamically select one of the longitudinal modes according to private control codes to achieve mode-shift keying chaos synchronization. The two remote chaotic light waveforms are quantized to generate two raw random bit streams, and then those bits corresponding to chaos synchronization are sifted as shared keys by comparing the control codes. In this method, the transition time, i.e., the chaos synchronization recovery time is determined by the rising time of the control codes rather than the laser transition response time, so the key distribution rate is improved greatly. Our experiment achieved a 0.75-Gbit/s key distribution rate with a bit error rate of 3.8 × 10 −3 over 160-km fiber transmission with dispersion compensation. The entropy rate of the laser chaos is evaluated as 16 Gbit/s, which determines the ultimate final key rate together with the key generation ratio. It is therefore believed that the method pays a way for Gbit/s physical key distribution.
High speed physical secure key distribution in a classical optical fiber channel is unprecedentedly desired for modern secure communication, but it still remains a worldwide technical challenge. In this paper, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel high-speed physical secure key distribution scheme based on chaotic optical signal processing and private hardware modules, which employs chaotic self-carrier phase modulation for chaotic bandwidth expansion and time-delayed shift keying of commonly driven synchronized optical chaos for physical layer security. In this scheme, the entropy source rate of synchronized chaos output from two remote response lasers is greatly expanded by chaotic self-carrier delayed nonlinear phase disturbance, which facilitates high speed key extraction from the entropy source with guaranteed randomness. Moreover, a synchronization recovery time of sub-nanosecond is achieved by dynamic keying of the chaotic delay time after chaos synchronization to accelerate the key distribution rate. Based on the proposed scheme, a high physical key distribution rate of 2.1 Gb/s over 40 km is successfully demonstrated in the experiment. The proposed solution provides a promising strategy for future high-speed key distribution based on chaotic optical signal processing and classical fiber channel.
Common-signal-induced synchronization of semiconductor lasers with optical feedback inspired a promising physical-layer key distribution with information-theoretic security and potential in high rate. A significant challenge is the requirement to shorten the synchronization recovery time for increasing the key rate without sacrificing the operation parameter space for security. Here, open-loop synchronization of wavelength-tunable multi-section distributed Bragg reflector lasers is proposed as a solution for physical-layer key distribution. Experiments show that the synchronization is sensitive to two operation parameters, i.e., currents of grating section and phase section. Furthermore, fast wavelength-shift keying synchronization can be achieved by direct modulation on one of the two currents. The synchronization recovery time is shortened by one order of magnitude compared to close-loop synchronization. An experimental implementation is demonstrated with a final key rate of 5.98 Mbit/s over 160 km optical fiber distance. It is thus believed that fast-tunable multi-section semiconductor lasers open a new avenue for a high-rate physical-layer key distribution using laser synchronization.
We propose and experimentally demonstrate a physical-layer key distribution scheme using commonly-driven laser synchronization with random modulation of drive light. Two parameter-matched semiconductor lasers injected by a common complex drive light are used as entropy sources for legitimate users. Legitimate users generate their own random signal by randomly time-division multiplexing of two random sequences with a certain duration according to individual control codes, and then independently modulate the drive light. Laser synchronization is achieved during time slots when the modulation sequences of two users are identical, and thus provide highly correlated randomness for extracting random numbers as shared keys. Experimental results show that the random modulation of the drive light reduces the correlation between the drive light and laser outputs. In addition, laser synchronization is sensitive to the modulation delay and then the latter can be used as an additional hardware parameter. These mean that security is enhanced. In addition, the proposed method has a short laser synchronization recovery time of lower than 1.1 ns, meaning a high rate of key distribution. The upper limit of final key rate of 2.55 Gb/s with a criterion of bit error rate of 1.68 × 10 −3 is achieved in experiments. Our results provide a promising candidate for protecting the security of optical fiber communication.
The secure key generation and distribution (SKGD) are unprecedentedly important for a modern secure communication system. This paper proposes what we believe to be a novel scheme of high-speed key distribution based on interference spectrum-shift keying with signal mutual modulation in commonly driven chaos synchronization. In this scheme, delay line interferometers (DLI) are utilized to generate two low-correlation interference spectra from commonly driven synchronous chaos, and then a 2 × 2 optical switch can effectively change the relationship between the two interference spectra in post-processing by shifting the states of the switch. The signals then undergo electro-optic nonlinear transformation through a hardware module, which includes a signal mutually modulating module (SMMM) and a dispersion component. This optimization significantly enhances the entropy source rate of synchronized chaos from both legitimate users. Moreover, thanks to the introduction of DLIs and electro-optic nonlinear transformation module, the key space of the proposed scheme is remarkably improved. In comparison to traditional chaotic drive-response architectures, the scheme effectively suppresses residual correlation. A 6.7 Gbit/s key distribution rate with a bit error rate below 3.8 × 10 −3 is experimentally demonstrated over a 40 km single-mode fiber (SMF).
We propose and numerically demonstrate a high-speed secure key distribution (SKD) based on polarization-keying chaos synchronization in two quantum dot (QD) spin-polarized vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) without any external feedback. In this scheme, high-quality chaos synchronization can be obtained when the response lasers have the same polarization ellipticity. The proposed SKD scheme is benefited from the feasible tunability of the pump polarization ellipticity, and no other complex components are necessary. Moreover, the open-loop configuration is constructed in the commonly driven lasers and results in a short synchronization recovery time of hundreds of picoseconds, which is much shorter than that in most previous reports. Combined with these merits, a 1.34 Gb/s SKD with a bit error ratio lower than 3.8 × 10 −3 can be achieved. The current study provides a new way to realize high-speed physical key distribution.