Paving the way toward 800 Gbps quantum-secured optical channel deployment in mission-critical environments
Marco Pistoia, Omar Amer, Monik Raj Behera, Joseph A. Dolphin, J. F. Dynes, Benny John, Paul Anthony Haigh, Yasushi Kawakura, David H. Kramer, Jeffrey A. Lyon, Navid Moazzami, Tulasi D. Movva, Antigoni Polychroniadou, Suresh Shetty, Greg Sysak, Farzam Toudeh-Fallah, Sudhir K. Upadhyay, Robert I. Woodward, A. J. Shields
Abstract
Abstract This article describes experimental research studies conducted toward understanding the implementation aspects of high-capacity quantum-secured optical channels in mission-critical metro-scale operational environments using quantum key distribution (QKD) technology. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that an 800 Gbps quantum-secured optical channel—along with several other dense wavelength division multiplexed channels on the C-band and multiplexed with the QKD channel on the O-band-was established at distances up to 100 km, with secret key-rates relevant for practical industry use cases. In addition, during the course of these trials, transporting a blockchain application over this established channel was utilized as a demonstration of securing a financial transaction in transit over a quantum-secured optical channel. The findings of this research pave the way toward the deployment of QKD-secured optical channels in high-capacity, metro-scale, mission-critical operational environments, such as Inter-Data Center Interconnects.