DemoQuanDT: A Carrier-Grade QKD Network

Abstract

Quantum Key Distribution Networks (QKDN) enable secure communication even in the age of powerful quantum computers. In the hands of a network operator, which can offer its service to many users, the economic viability of a QKDN increases significantly. The highly challenging operator-user relationship in a large-scale network setting demands additional requirements to ensure carrier-grade operation. Addressing this challenge, this work presents a carrier-grade QKDN architecture, which combines the functional QKDN architecture with the operational perspective of a network operator, ultimately enhancing the economic viability of QKDN. The focus is on the network and key management aspects of a QKDN while assuming state-of-the-art commercial QKD-Modules. The presented architecture was rolled out within an in-field demonstrator, connecting the cities of Berlin and Bonn over a link distance of 923 km across Germany. We could show, that the proposed network architecture is feasible, integrable, and scalable making it suitable for deployment in real-world networks. Overall, the presented carrier-grade QKDN architecture promises to serve as a blueprint for network operators providing QKD-based services to their customers.

All rights, including for text and data mining (TDM), Artificial Intelligence (AI) training, and similar technologies, are reserved. This project has received funding from the German research ministry "Bundesministerium fuer Bildung, Wissenschaft, Forschung und Technologie" (BMBF) as part of the DemoQuanDT research and innovation programm under grand agreement No. 16KISQ074

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Cited by in corpus (2)

• Switching Coordinator: An SDN Application for Flexible QKD-Networks
• Spanning-tree-packing protocol for conference key propagation in quantum networks