Optical Layer Security Research Articles

Cryptanalysis of Practical Optical Layer Security Based on Phase Masking of Mode-Locked Lasers and Multi-Homodyne Coherent Detection

Cryptanalysis of Practical Optical Layer Security Based on Phase Masking of Mode-Locked Lasers and Multi-Homodyne Coherent Detection

All-Optical QPSK Pattern Recognition in High-Speed Optoelectronic Firewalls

In the 5G era, more sensitive information will be transmitted on optical networks. Although modern cryptography could support different security mechanisms in different layers, the optical layer has not been paid enough attention but it is also vulnerable to attack by tapping or other methods. The optoelectronic firewall is one of the promising security strategies which can accelerate the operating speed within manageable costs by employing optical signal processing compared with current electronic firewalls. The most significant and challenging component of an optoelectronic firewall is pattern recognition. However, either the latest pattern recognition systems can only process the OOK or BPSK modulation format signals, or the coherent correlators supporting higher order modulation format require advanced components to deal with a higher number of symbols. In this paper, to address the pattern recognition challenges, we propose, analyze and simulate a pattern recognition system of QPSK signals integrated into all-optical high-speed optoelectronic firewalls used for optical layer security. The numerical simulation results first demonstrate the feasibility, and a baud rate of 100GBaud can be achieved. Next, a threshold-setting method is developed which also proves the ability to recognize arbitrary target patterns. Then some noise analysis results demonstrate that the pattern recognition of the I branch can be immune to the noise while the output power of EDFAs in the Q branch needs to be configured carefully. Finally, the matched result of a real Ethernet frame further reveals that our proposed system is promisingly applied in optoelectronic firewalls.

High-security constellation shaped self-homodyne coherent system with 4-D joint encryption.

In recent years, the self-homodyne coherent (SHC) system and the constellation shaping (CS) technique have drawn considerable attention due to their abilities to further improve the transmission capacity for various scenarios. From the security point of view, the CS technique and the SHC infrastructure also provide new dimensions for encryption. We propose a high-security and reliable SHC system based on the CS technique and the digital chaos. With a four-dimensional hyperchaotic system, chaotic sequences are generated and used for the exclusive or operation, chaotic constant composition distribution matching, phase disturbance, and optical-layer time-delay disturbance. Moreover, 64-ary circular quadrature amplitude modulation (64CQAM) format is adopted for transmission due to its advantages of sensitivity to phase noise, immunity to conventional digital signal processing, and ability of time-mismatch masking, which is verified by simulation in a SHC system. Last, we conduct an experimental verification in a 20GBaud probabilistically shaped 64CQAM SHC system. Consequently, with a large-linewidth laser source, optical-layer security can be protected by time mismatches of tens of picoseconds. And the digital-layer security is protected by an enormous key space of 10127. The proposed scheme can provide reliable real-time encryption for the optical fiber transmission, serving as a potential candidate for the future high-capacity inter/intra-datacenter security interconnect.

Securing optical code-division multiple-access networks with a postswitching coding scheme of signature reconfiguration

The optical code-division multiple-access (OCDMA) technique is considered a good candidate for providing optical layer security. An enhanced OCDMA network security mechanism with a pseudonoise (PN) random digital signals type of maximal-length sequence (M-sequence) code switching to protect against eavesdropping is presented. Signature codes unique to individual OCDMA-network users are reconfigured according to the register state of the controlling electrical shift registers. Examples of signature reconfiguration following state switching of the controlling shift register for both the network user and the eavesdropper are numerically illustrated. Dynamically changing the PN state of the shift register to reconfigure the user signature sequence is shown; this hinders eavesdroppers’ efforts to decode correct data sequences. The proposed scheme increases the probability of eavesdroppers committing errors in decoding and thereby substantially enhances the degree of an OCDMA network’s confidentiality.

Optical Layer Security in Fiber-Optic Networks

The physical layer of an optical network is vulnerable to a variety of attacks, including jamming, physical infrastructure attacks, eavesdropping, and interception. As the demand for network capacity grows dramatically, the issue of securing the physical layer of optical network cannot be overlooked. In this survey paper, we discuss the security threats in an optical network as well as present several existing optical techniques to improve the security. In the first part of this paper, we discuss various types of security threats that could appear in the optical layer of an optical network, including jamming, physical infrastructure attacks, eavesdropping, and interception. Intensive research has focused on improving optical network security, in the above specific areas. Real-time processing of the optical signal is essential in order to integrate security functionality at the physical layer while not undermining the true value of optical communications, which is its speed. Optical layer security benefits from the unique properties of optical processing-instantaneous response, broadband operation, electromagnetic immunity, compactness, and low latency. In the second part of this paper, various defenses against the security threats outlined in this paper are discussed, including optical encryption, optical code-division multiple access (CDMA) confidentiality, self-healing survivable optical rings, anti-jamming, and optical steganography.