High-speed Quantum Key Distribution System Research Articles

Afterpulse effects in quantum key distribution without monitoring signal disturbance.

The round-robin differential phase shift (RRDPS) quantum key distribution (QKD) protocol is the only one that does not require monitoring of signal disturbance. Moreover, it has been proven that RRDPS has excellent performance of resistance to finite-key effects and high error rate tolerance. However, the existing theories and experiments do not take the afterpulse effects into account, which cannot be neglected in high-speed QKD systems. Here, we propose a tight finite-key analysis with afterpulse effects. The results show that the non-Markovian afterpulse RRDPS model optimizes the system performance considering afterpulse effects. The advantage of RRDPS over decoy-state BB84 under short-time communication still holds at typical values of afterpulse.

Suppression of patterning effect using IQ modulator for high-speed quantum key distribution systems.

Quantum key distribution (QKD) is an attractive technology for distributing secret encryption keys between distant users. The decoy-state technique has drastically improved its practicality and performance, and has been widely adopted in commercial systems. However, conventional intensity modulators can introduce security side channels in high speed QKD systems because of their non-stationary working points for decoy-state generation. Here, we analyze the transfer function of an in-phase/quadrature (IQ) modulator and reveal its superiority for stable decoy-state generation, followed by an experimental demonstration. Thanks to their convenient two-level modulation and inherent high speed, IQ modulators are ideal for use in high-speed decoy-state QKD systems.

A Code Rate-Compatible High-Throughput Hardware Implementation Scheme for QKD Information Reconciliation

For high-speed quantum key distribution (QKD) post processing, information reconciliation is the most computational step, which usually acts as the system speed bottleneck. Reconciliation efficiency and operation throughput are the two most important performance parameters, but they are often compromised to each other in actual realization due to the available hardware resources. Another characteristic of the information reconciliation is that its channel is time-varying, and in order to guarantee high efficiency, some rate-compatible error correction scheme should be adopted. To cope with the above problems, this paper proposes a rate-compatible high-efficiency reconciliation algorithm based on quasi-cyclic (QC) low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes and puncturing algorithms. On the other hand, in order to obtain high throughput while maintaining low implementation complexity, the normalized min-sum algorithm (NMSA) is realized and optimized by using the fast prototyping tool of high-level synthesis (HLS). The proposed information reconciliation module was implemented on the Xilinx Zynq Ultrascale+ ZCU102 development board. Experimental results show that the maximum throughput rate of the implemented reconciliation module in this paper can reach 136 Mbps, while the efficiency factor is kept lower than 1.32 across the error rate range of 1.7%∼10.6% under the remaining frame error rate level of 10 <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">−3</sup> . The comprehensive good performance obtained by our design can strongly support the development of modern high-speed QKD systems.

Security of round-robin differential-phase-shift quantum-key-distribution protocol with correlated light sources

Among various quantum-key-distribution (QKD) protocols, the round-robin differential-phase- shift (RRDPS) protocol has a unique feature where its security is guaranteed without monitoring the signal disturbance. Moreover, this protocol has the remarkable property of being robust against source imperfections, assuming that the emitted pulses are independent. Unfortunately, some experiments with high-speed QKD systems confirmed the violation of the independence due to pulse correlations, and therefore the lack of a security proof, without taking into account this effect is an obstacle for guaranteeing the implementation security. In this paper, we show that the RRDPS protocol is secure against any source imperfections by establishing a security proof with the pulse correlations. The proof is simple in the sense that we make only three experimentally simple assumptions on the source. Our numerical simulation based on the proof shows that the long-range pulse correlation does not cause a significant impact on the key rate, which reveals another striking feature of the RRDPS protocol. Our security proof is thus effective and applicable to a wide range of practical sources and paves the way to realizing truly secure QKD in high-speed systems.

Security of quantum key distribution with intensity correlations

The decoy-state method in quantum key distribution (QKD) is a popular technique to approximately achieve the performance of ideal single-photon sources by means of simpler and practical laser sources. In high-speed decoy-state QKD systems, however, intensity correlations between succeeding pulses leak information about the users' intensity settings, thus invalidating a key assumption of this approach. Here, we solve this pressing problem by developing a general technique to incorporate arbitrary intensity correlations to the security analysis of decoy-state QKD. This technique only requires to experimentally quantify two main parameters: the correlation range and the maximum relative deviation between the selected and the actually emitted intensities. As a side contribution, we provide a non-standard derivation of the asymptotic secret key rate formula from the non-asymptotic one, in so revealing a necessary condition for the significance of the former.

High-Speed Privacy Amplification Scheme Using GMP in Quantum Key Distribution

Privacy amplification (PA) is the art of distilling a highly secret key from a partially secure string by public discussion. It is a vital procedure in quantum key distribution (QKD) to produce a theoretically unconditional secure key. The throughput of PA has become the bottleneck of most high-speed discrete variable QKD (DV-QKD) systems. Although some Toeplitz-hash PA schemes can meet the demand of throughput, their high throughput extremely depends on the high cost platform, such as MIC or GPU. From the comprehensive view of development cost, integration level and power consumption, CPU is a general low cost platform. However, the throughput of CPU based PA scheme is not satisfactory so far, mainly due to the conflict between the intrinsic serial characteristic of CPU and the parallel requirement of high throughput Toeplitz-hash PA scheme. In this paper, a high throughput modular arithmetic hash PA scheme using GNU multiple precision arithmetic library (GMP) based on CPU platform is proposed. The experimental results show that the throughput of our scheme is nearly an order of magnitude higher than the comparative scheme on the similar CPU platform, which is 135 Mbps and 69 Mbps at the block sizes of $10^6$ and $10^8$ on Intel i3-2120 CPU respectively. Moreover, our scheme can provide the best throughput among DV-QKD PA schemes, which is 260 Mbps and 140 Mbps at the block sizes of $10^6$ and $10^8$ on Intel i9-9900k CPU respectively.

High-throughput and low-cost LDPC reconciliation for quantum key distribution

Reconciliation is a crucial procedure in post-processing of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), which is used for correcting the error bits in sifted key strings. Although most studies about reconciliation of QKD focus on how to improve the efficiency, throughput optimizations have become the highlight in high-speed QKD systems. Many researchers adpot high cost GPU implementations to improve the throughput. In this paper, an alternative high throughput and efficiency solution implemented in low cost CPU is proposed. The main contribution of the research is the design of a quantized LDPC decoder including improved RCBP-based check node processing and saturation-oriented variable node processing. Experiment results show that the throughput up to 60Mbps is achieved using the bi-directional approach with reconciliation efficiency approaching to 1.1, which is the optimal combination of throughput and efficiency in Discrete-Variable QKD (DV-QKD). Meanwhile, the performance remains stable when Quantum Bit Error Rate (QBER) varies from 1% to 8%.

Research on error-correction algorithm of high-speed QKD system based on FPGA

In the process of quantum key distribution (QKD), error correction algorithm is used to correct the error bits of the key at both ends. The existing applied QKD system has a low key rate and is generally Kbps of magnitude. Therefore, the performance requirement of data processing such as error correction is not high. In order to cope with the development demand of high-speed QKD system in the future, this paper introduces the Winnow algorithm to realize high-speed parity and hamming error correction based on Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), and explores the performance limit of this algorithm. FPGA hardware implementation can achieve the scale of Mbps bandwidth, with choosing different group length of sifted key by different error rate, and can achieve higher error correction efficiency by reducing the information leakage in the process of error correction, and improves the QKD system’s secure key rate, thus helping the future high-speed QKD system.

High-speed and high-performance polarization-based quantum key distribution system without side channel effects caused by multiple lasers

Side channel effects such as temporal disparity and intensity fluctuation of photon pulses caused by random bit generation with multiple laser diodes in high-speed polarization-based BB84 quantum key distribution (QKD) systems can be eliminated by increasing DC bias current condition. However, background photons caused by the spontaneous emission process under high DC bias current degrade the performance of the QKD systems. In this study, we investigated, for the first time, the effects of spontaneously emitted photons on the system performance in a high-speed QKD system at a clock rate of 400 MHz. Also, we further show improvements of system performance without side channel effects by utilizing temporal filtering technique with real-time FPGA signal processing.

Quantum key distribution with an efficient countermeasure against correlated intensity fluctuations in optical pulses

Quantum key distribution (QKD) allows two distant parties to share secret keys with the proven security even in the presence of an eavesdropper with unbounded computational power. Recently, GHz-clock decoy QKD systems have been realized by employing ultrafast optical communication devices. However, security loopholes of high-speed systems have not been fully explored yet. Here we point out a security loophole at the transmitter of the GHz-clock QKD, which is a common problem in high-speed QKD systems using practical band-width limited devices. We experimentally observe the inter-pulse intensity correlation and modulation pattern-dependent intensity deviation in a practical high-speed QKD system. Such correlation violates the assumption of most security theories. We also provide its countermeasure which does not require significant changes of hardware and can generate keys secure over 100 km fiber transmission. Our countermeasure is simple, effective and applicable to wide range of high-speed QKD systems, and thus paves the way to realize ultrafast and security-certified commercial QKD systems.

Theory and implementation of a very high throughput true random number generator in field programmable gate array

The contribution of this paper is proposing a new entropy extraction mechanism based on sampling phase jitter in ring oscillators to make a high throughput true random number generator in a field programmable gate array (FPGA) practical. Starting from experimental observation and analysis of the entropy source in FPGA, a multi-phase sampling method is exploited to harvest the clock jitter with a maximum entropy and fast sampling speed. This parametrized design is implemented in a Xilinx Artix-7 FPGA, where the carry chains in the FPGA are explored to realize the precise phase shifting. The generator circuit is simple and resource-saving, so that multiple generation channels can run in parallel to scale the output throughput for specific applications. The prototype integrates 64 circuit units in the FPGA to provide a total output throughput of 7.68 Gbps, which meets the requirement of current high-speed quantum key distribution systems. The randomness evaluation, as well as its robustness to ambient temperature, confirms that the new method in a purely digital fashion can provide high-speed high-quality random bit sequences for a variety of embedded applications.

FiT-PA: Fixed Scale FFT Based Privacy Amplification Algorithm for Quantum Key Distribution

Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) technology, based on basic principles of quantum mechanics, can generate unconditional security keys for communication parties. Privacy amplification, which ensures the security of generated keys, is the most significant procedure of QKD systems. Focusing on meeting the real-time and highperformance requirements of GHz high-speed QKD systems, we proposed a novel Fixed Scale FFT based Privacy Amplification (FiT-PA) algorithm and implemented on MIC platform efficiently. The experimental results show the efficiency of FiT-PA algorithm. The throughput of FiTPA algorithm reaches to 60.443 Mbps with the raw key length of 12.8 M. FiT-PA algorithm can satisfy the real-time performance demands of GHz high-speed QKD systems.

FPGA based digital phase-coding quantum key distribution system

Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a technology with the potential capability to achieve information-theoretic security. Phasecoding is an important approach to develop practical QKD systems in fiber channel. In order to improve the phase-coding modulation rate, we proposed a new digital-modulation method in this paper and constructed a compact and robust prototype of QKD system using currently available components in our lab to demonstrate the effectiveness of the method. The system was deployed in laboratory environment over a 50 km fiber and continuously operated during 87 h without manual interaction. The quantum bit error rate (QBER) of the system was stable with an average value of 3.22% and the secure key generation rate is 8.91 kbps. Although the modulation rate of the photon in the demo system was only 200 MHz, which was limited by the Faraday- Michelson interferometer (FMI) structure, the proposed method and the field programmable gate array (FPGA) based electronics scheme have a great potential for high speed QKD systems with Giga-bits/second modulation rate.

The generation of 68 Gbps quantum random number by measuring laser phase fluctuations.

The speed of a quantum random number generator is essential for practical applications, such as high-speed quantum key distribution systems. Here, we push the speed of a quantum random number generator to 68 Gbps by operating a laser around its threshold level. To achieve the rate, not only high-speed photodetector and high sampling rate are needed but also a very stable interferometer is required. A practical interferometer with active feedback instead of common temperature control is developed to meet the requirement of stability. Phase fluctuations of the laser are measured by the interferometer with a photodetector and then digitalized to raw random numbers with a rate of 80 Gbps. The min-entropy of the raw data is evaluated by modeling the system and is used to quantify the quantum randomness of the raw data. The bias of the raw data caused by other signals, such as classical and detection noises, can be removed by Toeplitz-matrix hashing randomness extraction. The final random numbers can pass through the standard randomness tests. Our demonstration shows that high-speed quantum random number generators are ready for practical usage.

Intrinsic imperfection of self-differencing single-photon detectors harms the security of high-speed quantum cryptography systems

Thanks to the high-speed self-differencing single-photon detector (SD-SPD), the secret key rate of quantum key distribution (QKD), which can, in principle, offer unconditionally secure private communications between two users (Alice and Bob), can exceed 1 Mbit/s. However, the SD-SPD may contain loopholes, which can be exploited by an eavesdropper (Eve) to hack into the unconditional security of the high-speed QKD systems. In this paper, we analyze the fact that the SD-SPD can be remotely controlled by Eve in order to spy on full information without being discovered, then proof-of-principle experiments are demonstrated. Here, we point out that this loophole is introduced directly by the operating principle of the SD-SPD, thus, it cannot be removed, except for the fact that some active countermeasures are applied by the legitimate parties.

A Real-Time Design Based on FPGA for Expeditious Error Reconciliation in QKD System

For high-speed quantum key distribution systems, error reconciliation is often the bottleneck affecting system performance. By exchanging common information through a public channel, the identical key can be generated on both communicating sides. However, the necessity to eliminate disclosed bits for security reasons lowers the final key rate. To improve this key rate, the amount of disclosed bits should be minimized. In addition, decreasing the time spent on error reconciliation also improves the key rate. In this paper, we introduce a practical method for expeditious error reconciliation implemented in a field programmable gate array for a discrete variable quantum key distribution system, and illustrate the superiority of this method to other similar algorithms running on a PC. Experimental results demonstrate the rapidity of the proposed protocol.

High-speed wavelength-division multiplexing quantum key distribution system

A high-speed quantum key distribution system was developed with the wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) technique and dedicated key distillation hardware engines. Two interferometers for encoding and decoding are shared over eight wavelengths to reduce the system's size, cost, and control complexity. The key distillation engines can process a huge amount of data from the WDM channels by using a 1 Mbit block in real time. We demonstrated a three-channel WDM system that simultaneously uses avalanche photodiodes and superconducting single-photon detectors. We achieved 12 h continuous key generation with a secure key rate of 208 kilobits per second through a 45 km field fiber with 14.5 dB loss.

Heralded Single Photon Source-Based Decoy-State Quantum Key Distribution with Dual Detectors

In practical quantum key distribution (QKD) systems, the heralded single photon source (HSPS) based on parametric down-conversion (PDC) has attracted significant attentions from many researchers because its various advantages compared to the weak coherent source. We propose a heralded single photon source-based decoy-state QKD with dual detectors and demonstrate in a theoretical simulation that this method improves the performance of QKD system. The secure key generation rate is increased significantly with our proposal both in thermal and Poisson distributions of photons. The secure key rate produced by our scheme is higher than the state of the art key rate of current high-speed QKD system. The decoy-state QKD system using the heralded single photon source with dual detectors can be an important alternative for the present practical QKD systems.

High Speed Quantum Key Distribution System

Quantum key distribution (QKD) systems can generate unconditionally secure common keys between remote users. Improvements of QKD performance, particularly in key generation rate, have been required to meet current network traffic. A high-speed QKD system should be equipped with low-loss receivers with high visibility, highly efficient photon detectors with small dark count probability. A solution to these issues is to employ planar lightwave circuit (PLC) interferometers, single photon detection circuits and modules, together with multi-wavelength channels transmission using wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technique.

High speed quantum key distribution system

Quantum key distribution (QKD) systems can generate unconditionally secure common key between remote users. Improvement of QKD performance, particularly on key generation rate, has been required to meet current network traffic. The present paper considers system requirement to improve key generation rate by increasing photon detection rate and reducing error rate. A high-speed QKD system should be equipped with low loss receivers with high visibility, highly efficient photon detectors with small dark count probability, and a stable clock synchronization system with low stray light to the quantum signals. A solution for these issues are given by employing planar lightwave circuit interferometers, single photon detection circuits and modules, and clock synchronization based on wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) technique. A QKD system has been developed by combining these techniques. The system working with 625 MHz clock generated sift key at the rate of 2.4 kbps through a 97-km single installed fiber core.