Frame Synchronization for Quantum Key Distribution Systems

Mantey, Sara T.; Ramos, Mariana F.; Silva, Nuno; Pinto, Armando N.; Muga, Nelson J.

doi:10.1109/globecom48099.2022.10000815

Cited by 1 publication

(2 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…After the symbol synchronization, a frame synchronization method must also be implemented [25]. The frame synchronization must establish a way to match the start of data transmission of the transmitter with the start of data reception at the receiver.…”

Section: Frame Synchronizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…the need for highly synchronized pulses at the transmitter as required by balanced Mach-Zehnder interferometers, or the complexity of fiber-based Sagnac loops [18]. The properties of the polarization-encoding method are validated by integrating it in a real-time QKD system, with a newly proposed and implemented QBER-assisted frame synchronization mechanism [25]. This method allows to synchronize the frames in roughly 10 4 clock cycles, nevertheless, the number of clock cycles can be optimized according to the system requirements.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Design and implementation of a polarization-encoding system for quantum key distribution

Mantey,

Silva,

Pinto

et al. 2024

J. Opt.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We present the design and implementation of a state-of-polarization (SOP) management technique and two efficient synchronizing methods for quantum key distribution (QKD) systems. This is achieved following a wavelength-division multiplexing approach, where the classical synchronization signal and the quantum states are propagated in the same optical fiber. The employed frame synchronization method is based on the monitoring of the quantum bit error ratio (QBER) of the quantum channel, thus avoiding additional hardware and high computational resources. We evaluate the operation of SOP generation method through the assessment of the individual response of the waveplates that comprise the employed electronic polarization controller. Finally, the performance was assessed by computing the overall QBER and the QBER contributions of each of the four polarization states associated with the different qubits. The measurements, obtained during six hours, show a slight variation of the QBER values associated with the individual contributions, reaching an overall QBER of 0.75%. This demonstrates the capability of the presented methods to operate, stably, with very low QBER values, making its application in practical QKD systems reliable.

show abstract

Section: Frame Synchronizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%