We demonstrate high-rate randomized data-encryption through optical fibers using the inherent quantum-measurement noise of coherent states of light. Specifically, we demonstrate 650Mbps data encryption through a 10Gbps data-bearing, in-line amplified 200km-long line. In our protocol, legitimate users (who share a short secret-key) communicate using an M-ry signal set while an attacker (who does not share the secret key) is forced to contend with the fundamental and irreducible quantum-measurement noise of coherent states. Implementations of our protocol using both polarization-encoded signal sets as well as polarization-insensitive phase-keyed signal sets are experimentally and theoretically evaluated. Different from the performance criteria for the cryptographic objective of key generation (quantum key-generation), one possible set of performance criteria for the cryptographic objective of data encryption is established and carefully considered.
@article{arxiv.quant-ph/0501077,
title = {Quantum-noise--randomized data-encryption for WDM fiber-optic networks},
author = {Eric Corndorf and Chuang Liang and Gerg S. Kanter and Prem Kumar and Horace P. Yuen},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:quant-ph/0501077},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
Version 2: Some errors have been corrected and arguments refined. To appear in Physical Review A. Version 3: Minor corrections to version 2