The SECOQC Quantum-Key-Distribution Network in Vienna

Peev, Momtchil; Länger, Thomas; Lorünser, Thomas; Happe, Andreas; Maurhart, Oliver; Poppe, Andreas; Theme, Thomas

doi:10.1364/ofc.2009.othl2

Cited by 206 publications

(264 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Since the invention of the BB84 protocol 1 , the theory and practice of QKD has come a long way. Various different QKD protocols have been proposed in the last three decades 2 , some of which are now turning from science into practical technologies [3][4][5] . Security of QKD has now been proven for many protocols and under practical limitations such as a finite key length 6,7 .…”

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confidence: 99%

Fundamental rate-loss tradeoff for optical quantum key distribution

2014

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Since 1984, various optical quantum key distribution (QKD) protocols have been proposed and examined. In all of them, the rate of secret key generation decays exponentially with distance. A natural and fundamental question is then whether there are yet-to-be discovered optical QKD protocols (without quantum repeaters) that could circumvent this rate-distance tradeoff. This paper provides a major step towards answering this question. Here we show that the secret key agreement capacity of a lossy and noisy optical channel assisted by unlimited two-way public classical communication is limited by an upper bound that is solely a function of the channel loss, regardless of how much optical power the protocol may use. Our result has major implications for understanding the secret key agreement capacity of optical channels-a long-standing open problem in optical quantum information theory-and strongly suggests a real need for quantum repeaters to perform QKD at high rates over long distances.

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confidence: 99%

Fundamental rate-loss tradeoff for optical quantum key distribution

2014

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“…QKD research and development is carried out on an international level [56,57,58,59,60,61] and QKD systems are being developed with increasing performances and reliability. One can currently expect to exchange up to 1 Mbits of secret key per second, over a point-to-point QKD link of 20 km [62].…”

Section: Performance Of Qkd Link Devices: Recent Progressesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…End-to-end information-theoretic security is thus obtained between the end nodes provided the intermediate nodes can be trusted. [76,77] and more recently by the SECOQC consortium that developed a highly integrated network architecture, with dedicated protocols, allowing global key management [87,88] and leading to a demonstration in 2008 in Vienna [61]. A trusted repeater network is essentially a classical network where the exchanged data consists in keys encrypted with QKD-based keys.…”

Section: Trusted Repeater Qkd Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using quantum key distribution for cryptographic purposes: A survey

Alléaume

Branciard

Bouda

et al. 2014

Theoretical Computer Science

164

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The appealing feature of quantum key distribution (QKD), from a cryptographic viewpoint, is the ability to prove the information-theoretic security (ITS) of the established keys. As a key establishment primitive, QKD however does not provide a standalone security service in its own: the secret keys established by QKD are in general then used by a subsequent cryptographic applications for which the requirements, the context of use and the security properties can vary. It is therefore important, in the perspective of integrating QKD in security infrastructures, to analyze how QKD can be combined with other cryptographic primitives.The purpose of this survey article, which is mostly centered on European research results, is to contribute to such an analysis. We first review and compare the properties of the existing key establishment techniques, QKD being one of them. We then study more specifically two generic scenarios related to the practical use of QKD in cryptographic infrastructures: 1) using QKD as a key renewal technique for a symmetric cipher over a point-to-point link ; 2) using QKD in a network containing many users with the objective of offering any-to-any key establishment service. We discuss the constraints as well as the potential interest of using QKD in these contexts. We finally give an overview of challenges relative to the development of QKD technology that also constitute potential avenues for cryptographic research.

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“…To establish fully quantum multipartite networks, that avoid trusting intermediate parties, 7 it is necessary to route quantum signals through a backbone of quantum nodes. 8 This can be achieved by leveraging quantum entanglement to set-up non-local correlations between measurements by end users.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An entangled-LED-driven quantum relay over 1 km

et al. 2016

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Quantum cryptography allows confidential information to be communicated between two parties, with secrecy guaranteed by the laws of nature alone. However, upholding guaranteed secrecy over networks poses a further challenge, as classical receive-andresend routing nodes can only be used conditional of trust by the communicating parties, which arguably diminishes the value of the underlying quantum cryptography. Quantum relays offer a potential solution by teleporting qubits from a sender to a receiver, without demanding additional trust from end users. Here we demonstrate the operation of a quantum relay over 1 km of optical fibre, which teleports a sequence of photonic quantum bits to a receiver by utilising entangled photons emitted by a semiconductor light-emitting diode. The average relay fidelity of the link is 0.90 ± 0.03, exceeding the classical bound of 0.75 for the set of states used, and sufficiently high to allow error correction. The fundamentally low multiphoton emission statistics and the integration potential of the source present an appealing platform for future quantum networks. INTRODUCTIONQuantum key distribution 1,2 systems based on weak-coherent optical pulses have been reported that allow unique cryptographic keys to be shared between directly connected users on point-to-point 3-5 or point-to-multipoint links 6 . To establish fully quantum multipartite networks, that avoid trusting intermediate parties, 7 it is necessary to route quantum signals through a backbone of quantum nodes. 8 This can be achieved by leveraging quantum entanglement to set-up non-local correlations between measurements by end users. Examples of such schemes are distribution of entangled photon pairs to end users, where local measurements are performed, 9 or conversely, where photons are sent by two users to be projected into a Bell state by an intermediate quantum node. 10-12 Photonic quantum repeaters 13 and relays 8 use both of these effects to teleport entangled or single qubits, respectively, in a manner that can be chained to create a fully quantum network for which theoretically proven quantum security can be preserved.Here we report operation of a quantum relay over 1 km of optical fibre using entangled photons generated by a lightemitting diode to teleport photonic qubits encoded on weak coherent pulses emitted by a laser. Compared with previously reported quantum relays 14 and photonic teleportation over significant distances, 15,16 our system is directly electrically driven using a simple semiconductor device, offering a route to largescale network deployments. Teleporting weak coherent states offers potential enhancements to state-of-the art quantum key distribution systems, as it creates output photons with sub-Poissonian statistics immune to the photon number-splitting attack, 17,18 and protects against intrusions. 19

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The SECOQC Quantum-Key-Distribution Network in Vienna

Cited by 206 publications

References 22 publications

Fundamental rate-loss tradeoff for optical quantum key distribution

Fundamental rate-loss tradeoff for optical quantum key distribution

Using quantum key distribution for cryptographic purposes: A survey

An entangled-LED-driven quantum relay over 1 km

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