Quantum protocol for secure multiparty XOR with application to secure communication in metropolitan area networks

Abstract

This study first defined a new privacy protection problem, namely, quantum secure multiparty logical XOR (SMC_ XOR), and then designed corresponding quantum circuits where multiple participants could jointly calculate the logical XOR of their respective private bits. The proposed quantum SMC_XOR protocol can ensure unconditional security, i.e., information-theoretical security. Furthermore, we designed a grouping strategy to reduce communication complexity and presented an improved quantum SMC_XOR protocol. The improved quantum protocol is used to secure communication in metropolitan area networks, allowing two remote users to securely transmit confidential messages. Finally, we verified the correctness and feasibility of the proposed quantum SMC_XOR protocol by conducting circuit simulations on the IBM quantum system in Qiskit.