Untrusted node networks initially implemented by measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) protocol are a crucial step on the roadmap of the quantum Internet. Considering extensive QKD implementations of trusted node networks, a workable upgrading tactic of existing networks toward MDI networks needs to be explicit. Here, referring to the nonstandalone (NSA) network of 5G, we propose an NSA-MDI scheme as an evolutionary selection for existing phase-encoding BB84 networks. Our solution can upgrade the BB84 networks and terminals that employ various phase-encoding schemes to immediately support MDI without hardware changes. This cost-effective upgrade effectively promotes the deployment of MDI networks as a step of untrusted node networks while taking full advantage of existing networks. In addition, the diversified demands on security and bandwidth are satisfied, and network survivability is improved.
@article{arxiv.2109.01294,
title = {Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution for nonstandalone networks},
author = {Guan-Jie Fan-Yuan and Feng-Yu Lu and Shuang Wang and Zhen-Qiang Yin and De-Yong He and Zheng Zhou and Jun Teng and Wei Chen and Guang-Can Guo and Zheng-Fu Han},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2109.01294},
year = {2021}
}