Research Article
QKD in Standard Optical Telecommunications Networks
@INPROCEEDINGS{10.1007/978-3-642-11731-2_18, author={D. Lancho and J. Martinez and D. Elkouss and M. Soto and V. Martin}, title={QKD in Standard Optical Telecommunications Networks}, proceedings={Quantum Communication and Quantum Networking. First International Conference, QuantumComm 2009, Naples, Italy, October 26-30, 2009, Revised Selected Papers}, proceedings_a={QUANTUMCOMM}, year={2012}, month={10}, keywords={Quantum Key Distribution Passive Optical Networks}, doi={10.1007/978-3-642-11731-2_18} }- D. Lancho
J. Martinez
D. Elkouss
M. Soto
V. Martin
Year: 2012
QKD in Standard Optical Telecommunications Networks
QUANTUMCOMM
Springer
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-11731-2_18
Abstract
To perform Quantum Key Distribution, the mastering of the extremely weak signals carried by the quantum channel is required. Transporting these signals without disturbance is customarily done by isolating the quantum channel from any noise sources using a dedicated physical channel. However, to really profit from this technology, a full integration with conventional network technologies would be highly desirable. Trying to use single photon signals with others that carry an average power many orders of magnitude bigger while sharing as much infrastructure with a conventional network as possible brings obvious problems. The purpose of the present paper is to report our efforts in researching the limits of the integration of QKD in modern optical networks scenarios. We have built a full metropolitan area network testbed comprising a backbone and an access network. The emphasis is put in using as much as possible the same industrial grade technology that is actually used in already installed networks, in order to understand the throughput, limits and cost of deploying QKD in a real network.