Fluctuations of Internal Transmittance in Security of Measurement-Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution with an Untrusted Source

Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution(MDI-QKD) is immune to detector side channel attacks, which is a crucial security loophole problem in traditional QKD. In order to relax a key assumption that the sources are trusted in MDI-QKD, an MDI-QKD protocol with an untrusted source has been proposed. For the security of MDI-QKD with an untrusted source, imperfections in the practical experiment should also be taken into account. In this paper, we analyze the effects of fluctuations of internal transmittance on the security of a decoy-state MDI-QKD protocol with an untrusted source. Our numerical results show that both the secret key rate and the maximum secure transmission distance decrease when taken fluctuations of internal transmittance into consideration. Especially, they are more sensitive when Charlie's mean photon number per pulse is smaller. Our results emphasize that the stability of correlative optical devices is important for practical implementations.     

弱相干光源测量设备无关量子密钥分发系统的性能优化分析

测量设备无关量子密钥分发系统能够抵御任何针对单光子探测器边信道的攻击, 进一步结合诱惑态的方案, 可以同时规避准单光子源引起的实际安全漏洞. 测量设备无关量子密钥分发系统中, 非对称传输、分束器的不对称以及各个单光子探测器存在实际参数差异等光学系统的具体实现特征会对系统误码率和成码率等性能产生一定的影响. 本文针对采用弱相干光源的测量设备无关量子密钥分发系统, 引入单光子探测器品质因子的实验参数(暗计数与探测效率的比值), 通过量子化描述, 理论推导并模拟了误码率与单光子探测器品质因子、分束器反射率以及通信双方弱相干光源平均光子数之间的关系. 结果表明: 在X基偏振编码 和相位编码系统中, 当分束器的反射率趋近于0.5时, 误码率取最小值; 在偏振编码和相位编码系统中, 误码率随着单光子探测器品质因子的增大而增大; 在Z基偏振编码系统中, 误码率随分束器的反射率的变化会呈现较小的波动, 当分束器的反射率为0.5时, 若通信双方采用的平均光子数相差较大, 则误码率取最大值; 分束器的反射率和平均光子数对误码率的影响在Z基情况下不能等同, 但是对于X基编码和相位编码却能等同.     

Decoy-state measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution with mismatched-basis statistics

Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution(MDI-QKD) is aimed at removing all detector side channel attacks,while its security relies on the assumption that the encoding systems including sources are fully characterized by the two legitimate parties. By exploiting the mismatched-basis statistics in the security analysis, MDI-QKD even with uncharacterized qubits can generate secret keys. In this paper, considering the finite size effect, we study the decoy-state MDI-QKD protocol with mismatchedbasis events statistics by performing full parameter optimization, and the simulation result shows that this scheme is very practical.     

基于标记配对相干态光源的诱骗态量子密钥分配性能分析

从有效性、稳定性和可行性三个方面, 对基于标记配对相干态光源的诱骗态量子密钥分配的性能进行了全面分析. 采用四组实验数据对基于标记配对相干态光源的三强度诱骗态方案的密钥生成效率、量子比特误码率和最优信号态强度与安全传输距离之间的关系进行了仿真和分析; 考虑到光源涨落, 对方案的稳定性进行了讨论和仿真; 并对基于标记配对相干态光源设计简单易实现方案的可行性进行了分析. 结论表明: 基于标记配对相干态光源的诱骗态方案性能在安全传输距离和密钥生成效率两方面都优于现有基于弱相干态光源和预报单光子源的诱骗态方案; 在光源强度涨落相同条件下, 标记配对相干态光源的稳定性逊于预报单光子源, 而优于相干态光源. 但是标记配对相干态光源在有效性上的优势可弥补其在稳定性上的不足; 且标记配对相干态光源的双模特性为设计简单易实现的被动诱骗态方案提供了条件. 关键词： 量子光学 量子密钥分配 标记配对相干态光源 性能     

The Decoy-State Measurement-Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution with Heralded Single-Photon Source

Based on heralded single-photon source (HSPS), a decoy-state measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution (MDI-QKD) protocol is proposed in this paper. The MDI-QKD protocol mainly uses orbital angular momentum (OAM) states and pulse position modulation (PPM) technology to realize the coding of the signal states in heralded single-photon source. The three-intensity decoy states are used to avoid the attacks against the light source. Moreover, the formula of key generation rate is given by computing the lower bound of the yield of single-photon pairs and the upper bound of the error rate of single-photon pairs. Numerical simulation shows that the new MDI-QKD protocol has high key generation rate and low error rate. Moreover, the secure communication distance can be up to 450 km.

     

基于弱相干光源测量设备无关量子密钥分发系统的误码率分析

测量设备无关量子密钥分发系统可以免疫任何针对探测器边信道的攻击, 并进一步结合诱惑态方法规避了准单光子源引入的实际安全性问题. 目前实验中一般采用弱相干光源, 但是该光源含有一定比例的空脉冲和多光子脉冲. 本文针对弱相干光源的具体特性, 采用量子力学的描述, 将各个器件进行量子化处理, 并同时考虑探测器的具体性能参数的影响, 分别给出了通信双方各自发送的脉冲含有特定光子数时产生的成功贝尔态和错误贝尔态的概率公式, 从理论上对相位编码和偏振编码测量设备无关量子密钥分发系统的误码率进行了定量分析, 分别推导并模拟了通信双方采用的平均光子数对称和不对称时误码率随传输距离的变化情况, 结果表明在偏振编码Z基中, 多光子脉冲不会引起误码; 在偏振编码X基和相位编码中, 受多光子影响, 产生的误码率较大. 对于不同的编码方式, 误码率均随传输距离的增加有不同程度的升高, 长距离传输时, 平均光子数越小, 产生的误码率越大; 在偏振编码X基和相位编码的短距离传输中, 相对于对称, 通信双方采用的平均光子数不对称时产生的误码率较大.     

Improving the Performance of Practical Decoy-State Measurement-Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution with Biased Basis Choice

Statistical fluctuations are unavoidable in realistic quantum key distribution (QKD) due to finite-size effect. Based on the four-intensity proposal on measurement-device-independent QKD (MDI-QKD) in[Phys. Rev. A 93 (2016) 042324], we particularly analyze the scenario that only three intensities are used, namely a three-intensity decoy-state MDI-QKD with biased basis choice. After performing full parameter optimization method, simulations results demonstrate that this scenario can obtain distinct enhancement compared with the conventional unbiased threeintensity decoy-state method, e.g. Xu et al.'s[Phys. Rev. A 89 (2014) 052333]. Furthermore, results also show that it works more efficiently by using HSPS than using WCS at longer transmission distance.     

Free-space measurement-device-independent quantum-key-distribution protocol using decoy states with orbital angular momentum

In this paper, we propose a measurement-device-independent quantum-key-distribution(MDI-QKD) protocol using orbital angular momentum(OAM) in free space links, named the OAM-MDI-QKD protocol. In the proposed protocol,the OAM states of photons, instead of polarization states, are used as the information carriers to avoid the reference frame alignment, the decoy-state is adopted to overcome the security loophole caused by the weak coherent pulse source, and the high efficient OAM-sorter is adopted as the measurement tool for Charlie to obtain the output OAM state. Here, Charlie may be an untrusted third party. The results show that the authorized users, Alice and Bob, could distill a secret key with Charlie's successful measurements, and the key generation performance is slightly better than that of the polarization-based MDI-QKD protocol in the two-dimensional OAM cases. Simultaneously, Alice and Bob can reduce the number of flipping the bits in the secure key distillation. It is indicated that a higher key generation rate performance could be obtained by a high dimensional OAM-MDI-QKD protocol because of the unlimited degree of freedom on OAM states. Moreover,the results show that the key generation rate and the transmission distance will decrease as the growth of the strength of atmospheric turbulence(AT) and the link attenuation. In addition, the decoy states used in the proposed protocol can get a considerable good performance without the need for an ideal source.     

A long-distance quantum key distribution scheme based on pre-detection of optical pulse with auxiliary state

We construct a circuit based on PBS and CNOT gates, which can be used to determine whether the input pulse is empty or not according to the detection result of the auxiliary state, while the input state will not be changed. The circuit can be treated as a pre-detection device. Equipping the pre-detection device in the front of the receiver of the quantum key distribution(QKD) can reduce the influence of the dark count of the detector, hence increasing the secure communication distance significantly. Simulation results show that the secure communication distance can reach 516 km and 479 km for QKD with perfect single photon source and decoy-state QKD with weak coherent photon source, respectively.     

Measurement-device-independent quantum cryptographic conferencing with an untrusted source

Measurement-device-independent quantum cryptographic conferencing(MDI-QCC) protocol puts MDI quantum key distribution(MDI-QKD) forwards to multi-party applications, and suggests a significant framework for practical multi-party quantum communication. In order to mitigate the experimental complexity of MDI-QCC and remove the key assumption(the sources are trusted) in MDI-QCC, we extend the framework of MDI-QKD with an untrusted source to MDI-QCC and give the rigorous security analysis of MDI-QCC with an untrusted source. What is more, in the security analysis we clearly provide a rigorous analytical method for parameters' estimation, which with simple modifications can be applied to not only MDI-QKD with an untrusted source but also arbitrary multi-party communication protocol with an untrusted source. The simulation results show that at reasonable distances the asymptotic key rates for the two cases(with trusted and untrusted sources) almost overlap, which indicates the feasibility of our protocol.     

Time-Bin Phase-Encoding Measurement-Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution with Four Single-Photon Detectors

Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution(MDI-QKD) eliminates all loopholes on detection.Previous experiments of time-bin phase-encoding MDI-QKD allow a factor of 3/4 loss in the final key for the incapability of identifying two successive detection events by a single photon detector.Here we propose a new scheme to realize the time-bin phase-encoding MDI-QKD.The polarization states are used to generate the time bins and the phase-encoding states.The factor of loss in the final key is eliminated by using four single photon detectors at the measurement site.We show the feasibility of our scheme with a proof-of-principle experimental demonstration.The phase reference frame is rotated extremely slowly with only passive stabilization measures.The quantum bit error rate can reach 0.8% in the Z-basis and 26.2% in the X-basis.     

Decoy-state reference-frame-independent quantum key distribution with both source errors and statistical fluctuations

Reference-frame-independent quantum key distribution(RFI QKD) can generate secret keys without the alignment of reference frames, which is very robust in real-life implementations of QKD systems. However, the performance of decoystate RFI QKD with both source errors and statistical fluctuations is still missing until now. In this paper, we investigate the performance of decoy-state RFI QKD in practical scenarios with two kinds of light sources, the heralded single photon source(HSPS) and the weak coherent source(WCS), and also give clear comparison results of decoy-state RFI QKD with WCS and HSPS. Simulation results show that the secret key rates of decoy-state RFI QKD with WCS are higher than those with HSPS in short distance range, but the secret key rates of RFI QKD with HSPS outperform those with WCS in long distance range.     

基于不可信光源的量子密钥分配的统计特性研究

通过比较被动系统与主动系统的特性, 得出可信光源、不可信光源主动系统和不可信光源被动系统的密钥生成率随距离的变化关系; 采用标准误差分析法, 得到相应变量的偏离量; 基于诱骗态方案分析不可信光源被动系统暗计数率和光源强度参数波动对系统安全特性的影响, 得出在1310 nm 和1550 nm通信窗口下, 系统最大安全通信距离范围分别为[73.2 km, 96.5 km] 和[104.5 km, 137.9 km]. 这可为实用量子通信实验提供重要的理论参数. 关键词： 量子密钥分配 不可信光源 被动系统 统计波动     

Practical decoy-state BB84 quantum key distribution with quantum memory

We generalize BB84 quantum key distribution(QKD) to the scenario where the receiver adopts a heralded quantum memory(QM). With the heralded QM, the valid dark count rate of the receiver's single photon detectors can be mitigated obviously, which will lower the quantum bit error rate, and thus improve the performance of decoy-state BB84 QKD systems in long distance range. Simulation results show that, with practical experimental system parameters, decoy-state BB84 QKD with QM can exhibit performance comparable to that of without QM in short distance range, and exhibit performance better than that without QM in long distance range.     

New protocols for non-orthogonal quantum key distribution

Combining the passive decoy-state idea with the active decoy-state idea, a non-orthogonal (SARG04) decoy-state protocol with one vacuum and two weak decoy states is introduced based on a heralded pair coherent state photon source for quantum key distribution. Two special cases of this protocol are deduced, i.e., a one-vacuum-and-one-weak-decoy-state protocol and a one-weak-decoy-state protocol. In these protocols, the sender prepares decoy states actively, which avoids the crude estimation of parameters in the SARG04 passive decoy-state method. With the passive decoy-state idea, the detection events on Bob’s side that are non-triggered on Alice’s side are not discarded, but used to estimate the fractions of single-photon and two-photon pulses, which offsets the limitation of the detector’s low efficiency and overcomes the shortcoming that the performance of the active decoy-state protocol critically depends on the efficiency of detector. The simulation results show that the combination of the active and passive decoy-state ideas increases the key generation rate. With a one-vacuum-and-two-weak-decoy-state protocol, one can achieve a key generation rate that is close to the theoretical limit of an infinite decoy-state protocol. The performance of the other two protocols is a little less than with the former, but the implementation is easier. Under the same condition of implementation, higher key rates can be obtained with our protocols than with existing methods.     

降雨背景下诱骗态协议最优平均光子数的变色龙自适应策略

为了应对降雨给采用诱骗态协议的量子通信系统带来的突发性干扰,根据降雨分布模型和退极化信道的特性,本文提出了基于变色龙算法的每脉冲最优平均光子数自适应策略;建立了降雨强度、链路距离与最优平均光子数之间的自适应关系;并对采用变色龙算法前后,系统的性能参数进行了比较.仿真结果表明,当降雨强度J为30 mm/24 h、链路距离L为30 km时,通过采用变色龙算法,系统的安全密钥生成率由2×10~(-4)提高到3.5×10~(-4);当J为60 mm/24 h,L为20 km时,系统的信道生存函数值由0.52提高到0.63;当要求生存函数不低于0.5时,系统能够应对的最大雨强由62 mm/24 h提高到74 mm/24 h.因此,根据降雨强度和链路距离,通过变色龙算法自适应地调整系统发送端信号脉冲所含的平均光子数,可以提高量子通信系统在降雨背景下的有效性和可靠性.     

基于量子存储的长距离测量设备无关量子密钥分配研究

针对量子中继器短时间内难以应用于长距离量子密钥分配系统的问题, 提出了基于量子存储的长距离测量设备无关量子密钥分配协议, 分析了其密钥生成率与存储效率、信道传输效率和安全传输距离等参数间的关系, 研究了该协议中量子存储单元的退相干效应对最终密钥生成率的影响, 比较了经典测量设备无关量子密钥分配协议和基于量子存储的测量设备无关量子密钥分配协议的密钥生成率与安全传输距离的关系. 仿真结果表明, 添加量子存储单元后, 协议的安全传输距离由无量子存储的216 km增加至500 km, 且量子存储退相干效应带来的误码对最终的密钥生成率影响较小. 实验中可以采取调节信号光强度的方式提高测量设备无关量子密钥分配系统的密钥生成率, 为实用量子密钥分配实验提供了重要的理论参数.     

Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution of multiple degrees of freedom of a single photon

Measurement-device-independent quantum key distribution(MDI-QKD)provides us a powerful approach to resist all attacks at detection side.Besides the unconditional security,people also seek for high key generation rate,but MDI-QKD has relatively low key generation rate.In this paper,we provide an efficient approach to increase the key generation rate of MDI-QKD by adopting multiple degrees of freedom(DOFs)of single photons to generate keys.Compared with other high-dimension MDI-QKD protocols encoding in one DOF,our protocol is more flexible,for our protocol generating keys in independent subsystems and the detection failure or error in a DOF not affecting the information encoding in other DOFs.Based on above features,our MDI-QKD protocol may have potential application in future quantum comniunication field.     

Experimental long-distance decoy-state quantum key distribution based on polarization encoding

We demonstrate the decoy-state quantum key distribution (QKD) with one-way quantum communication in polarization space over 102 km. Further, we simplify the experimental setup and use only one detector to implement the one-way decoy-state QKD over 75 km, with the advantage to overcome the security loopholes due to the efficiency mismatch of detectors. Our experimental implementation can really offer the unconditionally secure final keys. We use 3 different intensities of 0, 0.2, and 0.6 for the light sources in our experiment. In order to eliminate the influences of polarization mode dispersion in the long-distance single-mode optical fiber, an automatic polarization compensation system is utilized to implement the active compensation.     

Passive decoy-state quantum key distribution for the weak coherent photon source with finite-length key

Passive decoy-state quantum key distribution systems, proven to be more desirable than active ones in some scenarios,also have the problem of device imperfections like finite-length keys. In this paper, based on the WCP source which can be used for the passive decoy-state method, we obtain the expressions of single-photon error rates, single-photon counts, and phase error rates. According to the information of smooth min-entropy, we calculate the key generation rate under the condition of finite-length key. Key generation rates with different numbers of pulses are compared by numerical simulations. From the results, it can be seen that the passive decoy-state method can have good results if the total number of pulses reaches 1010. We also simulate the passive decoy-state method with different probabilities of choosing a pulse for parameter estimation when the number of pulses is fixed.