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A cost-efficient quantum access network with qubit-based synchronization

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Abstract

Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a physical layer encryption technique that enables two distant parties to exchange secure keys with information-theoretic security. In the last two decades, QKD has transitioned from laboratory research to real-world applications, including multi-user quantum access networks (QANs). This network structure allows users to share a single-photon detector at a network node through time-division multiplexing, thereby significantly reducing the network cost. However, current QAN implementations require additional hardware for auxiliary tasks such as time synchronization. To address this issue, we propose a cost-efficient QAN that uses qubit-based synchronization. In this approach, the transmitted qubits facilitate time synchronization, eliminating the need for additional synchronization hardware. We tested our scheme by implementing a network for two users and successfully achieved average secure key rates of 53.84 kbps and 71.90 kbps for each user over a 50-km commercial fiber spool. In addition, we investigated the capacity of the access network under cross-talk and loss conditions. The simulation results demonstrate that this scheme can support a QAN with 64 users with key rates up to 1070 bps. Our work provides a feasible and cost-effective way to implement a multi-user QKD network, further promoting the widespread application of QKD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangxi Key Laboratory for Relativistic Astrophysics, School of Physical Science and Technology, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, China

    Chunfeng Huang, Ye Chen, Tingting Luo, Wenjie He, Xin Liu & Kejin Wei

  2. Guangxi Key Laboratory of Multimedia Communications and Network Technology, School of Computer Electronics and Information, Guangxi University, Nanning, 530004, China

    Zhenrong Zhang

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  1. Chunfeng Huang
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Correspondence to Kejin Wei.

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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 62171144, and 11905065), the Guangxi Science Foundation (Grant Nos. 2021GXNSFAA220011, and 2021AC19384), the Open Fund of Institute of Pervasive Computing (IPOC) (Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications) (Grant No. IPOC2021A02), and the Innovation Project of Guangxi Graduate Education (Grant No. YCSW2022040).

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Huang, C., Chen, Y., Luo, T. et al. A cost-efficient quantum access network with qubit-based synchronization. Sci. China Phys. Mech. Astron. 67, 240312 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11433-023-2302-8

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