Claims
- 1. A secure communications network comprising:
a plurality of communication nodes, each of said communication nodes being connected to a quantum channel; at least one of said communication nodes comprising: a photon supplying system capable of supplying a plurality of substantially single photons spaced a part in time; a modulator system capable of modulating a characteristic property of each one of the substantially single photons; a multiplexing system capable of assembling the plurality of substantially single photons in a predetermined order; a transmission/coupling system capable of transmitting/coupling the assembled plurality of substantially single photons over the quantum channel; and, at least another of said communication nodes comprising: a receiving system capable of receiving at least some of the assembled plurality of substantially single photons; an analyzing system capable of analyzing the characteristic property of the received assembled plurality of substantially single photons; a demultiplexing system capable of separating the received assembled plurality of substantially single photons into a number of separated pluralities of substantially single photons; and, a plurality of detector systems, each one of said detector systems being capable of detecting one separated plurality of said pluralities of substantially single photons.
- 2. The secure network of claim 1 wherein the characteristic property is a phase of each one of the substantially single photons.
- 3. The secure network of claim 1 wherein the characteristic property is a polarization state of each one of the substantially single photons.
- 4. The secure network of claim 1 wherein each plurality from number of pluralities of substantially single photons has substantially one wavelength.
- 5. The secure network of claim 4 wherein each plurality from number of pluralities of substantially single photons is separated with respect to time of arrival.
- 6. The secure network of claim 5 wherein said demultiplexing system comprises an optical switch operating at substantially 10 to 100 Mhz.
- 7. An apparatus for distributing cryptographic key information, the apparatus comprising:
a photon supplying system capable of supplying a plurality of substantially single photons spaced a part in time, each one all the substantially single photons having substantially one wavelength; a modulator system capable of modulating a characteristic property of each one of the substantially single photons; a multiplexing system capable of assembling the plurality of substantially single photons in a predetermined order; and, a transmission/coupling system capable of transmitting/coupling the assembled plurality of substantially single photons over the quantum channel; wherein the plurality of substantially single photons comprise the source of the cryptographic key information.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the characteristic property is a phase of each one of the substantially single photons.
- 9. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein the characteristic property is a polarization state of each one of the substantially single photons.
- 10. An apparatus for receiving cryptographic key information, the apparatus comprising:
a receiving system capable of receiving a first plurality of substantially single photons; an analyzing system capable of analyzing a characteristic property of the first plurality of substantially single photons; a demultiplexing system capable of separating the first plurality of substantially single photons into a number of second pluralities of substantially single photons; and, a plurality of detector systems, each one of said detector systems being capable of detecting one plurality of said second pluralities of substantially single photons; wherein the plurality of substantially single photons comprises the source of the cryptographic key information.
- 11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the characteristic property is a phase of each one of the substantially single photons.
- 12. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the characteristic property is a polarization state of each one of the substantially single photons.
- 13. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein each plurality from number of the second pluralities of substantially single photons has substantially one wavelength.
- 14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein each plurality from number of the second pluralities of substantially single photons is separated with respect to time of arrival.
- 15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein said demultiplexing system comprises an optical switch operating at substantially 10 to 100 Mhz.
- 16. A method for obtaining a high data rate in quantum key distribution, the method comprising the steps of:
transmitting, over a quantum channel, a first plurality of substantially single photons in a predetermined pattern; receiving, at a receiving node, at least some of the first plurality of substantially single photons; separating the received plurality of substantially single photons into a number of second pluralities of substantially single photons; detecting each plurality from the number of second pluralities of substantially single photons.
- 17. A method for obtaining a high data rate in quantum key distribution, the method comprising the steps of:
transmitting, over a predetermined channel, a first plurality of substantially single photons spaced apart in time, each substantially single photon having a predetermined wavelength, each predetermined wavelength located in a band of wavelengths from a plurality of bands of wavelength, each band of wavelengths located in a bandwidth of the predetermined channel; receiving, at a receiving node, at least some of the substantially single photons from the plurality of substantially single photons; spatially separating the received plurality of substantially single photons into a number of second pluralities of substantially single photons, each second plurality of substantially single photons including substantially single photons having a wavelength located in one band of wavelengths from the plurality of bands of wavelength; separating in time each second plurality of substantially single photons, constituting a number of separated in time third pluralities of substantially single photons; detecting each third plurality of substantially single photons.
- 18. A method for obtaining a high data rate in quantum key distribution, the method comprising the steps of:
transmitting, over a predetermined channel, a first plurality of substantially single photons, each substantially single photon having a predetermined wavelength, each predetermined wavelength located in a band of wavelengths from a plurality of bands of wavelength, each band of wavelengths located in a bandwidth of the predetermined channel; receiving, at a receiving node, at least some of the substantially single photons from the plurality of substantially single photons; spatially separating the received plurality of substantially single photons into a number of second pluralities of substantially single photons, each second plurality of substantially single photons including substantially single photons having a wavelength located in one band of wavelengths from the plurality of bands of wavelength; detecting each spatially separated second plurality of substantially single photons.
- 19. A method for obtaining a high data rate in quantum key distribution, the method comprising the steps of:
transmitting, over a predetermined channel, a plurality of substantially single photons spaced apart in time; receiving, at a receiving node, at least some of the substantially single photons from the plurality of substantially single photons; separating in time the received substantially single photons; detecting the separated in time substantially single photons.
- 20. A secure communications network comprising:
a plurality of communication nodes, each of said communication nodes being connected to a quantum channel; at least one photon supplying system capable of supplying a pair of pluralities of substantially single photons spaced a part in time; at least one multiplexing system capable of assembling each one plurality of the pair of pluralities of substantially single photons in a predetermined order; at least one pair of said communication nodes, each communication nodes from the pair comprising: a receiving/analyzing system capable of receiving at least some of one plurality of the pair of assembled pluralities of substantially single photons and capable of analyzing the characteristic property of the received assembled plurality of substantially single photons; a demultiplexing system capable of separating the received assembled plurality of substantially single photons into a number of pluralities of substantially single photons; and, a plurality of detector systems, each one of said detector systems being capable of detecting one plurality of said pluralities of substantially single photons.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority of U.S. Provisional Patent application Ser. No. 60/470,372, entitled METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR HIGH-DATA-RATE QUANTUM CRYPTOGRAPHY, filed on May 14, 2003, which is incorporated by reference herein.
Provisional Applications (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
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60470372 |
May 2003 |
US |