Entanglement driven quantum cryptography for metropolitan optical networks
摘要
Quantum key distribution (QKD) entanglement-based solutions have become effective solutions for providing security to communications owing to the increased challenges posed by quantum computing. Entanglement-based QKD protocols are especially suitable for deployment over existing metropolitan optical fibre infrastructure, particularly those that provide device-independent security. Nonetheless, their implementation is strongly hindered by environmental noise, decoherence by optical fibres, and interference by co-existent classical data traffic. This research paper provides an overall experimental report on the noise resistance of entanglement-based QKD, in this case, the BBM92 protocol of a metropolitan fibre network. To solve practical problems, this study presents a hybrid model with three adaptive algorithms: the Adaptive entanglement purification protocol (AEPP), noise-resilient key reconciliation algorithm (NRKRA), and optimised privacy amplification technique (OPAT). The AEPP constantly checks the entanglement fidelity and enhances it through the purification of pairs of photons, depending on the real-time channel conditions. The NRKRA builds upon efficient key reconciliation by dynamically using error correction coded to optimise the observed quantum bit error rate (QBER). OPAT also enhances system security because it can handle privacy amplification based on the degree of information leakage. Experimental findings indicate that such a combined method is able to produce low QBER, high secret key rates with improved entanglement fidelity, even in the fibre links of up to 50 km length and in the presence of environmental experiments. This work has shown that an adaptable and resilient structure of this kind goes far beyond the conceptual frameworks of QKD modelling and real-world applications to provide insights on the necessary performance standards and to provide viable implementation guidelines to large-scale quantum cryptographic systems in the future.