Practical Quantum Key Distribution based on the BB84 protocol A. Ruiz-Alba, D. Calvo, V. Garcia-Muñoz, A. Martinez, W. Amaya, J.G. Rozo, J. Mora, J. Capmany Instituto de Telecomunicaciones y Aplicaciones Multimedia, Universitat Politècnica de València, 8G Building-access D-Camino de Vera s/n-46022 Valencia (Spain) Corresponding author:
[email protected] Abstract relies on photon sources and the so-called pho- ton guns are far from ready. An alternative and This paper provides a review of the most impor- also a complementary approach to increase the tant and widely used Quantum Key Distribution bit rate is to make QKD systems work in paral- systems and then describes our recently pro- lel. This simple engineering approach becomes a posed scheme based on Subcarrier Multiplexing challenge when working with quantum systems: that opens the possibility of parallel Quantum The system should work in parallel but still rely Key Distribution. We report the first-ever ex- on just one source and its security should still be perimental implementation of parallel quantum guaranteed by the principles of quantum me- key distribution using this technique showing a chanics both when Alice prepares the photons maximum multiplexing gain. and when Bob “measures” the incoming states. At the same time the multiplexing technique Keywords: Optical fiber communications, quan- should be safe to Eve gaining any information. tum information, quantum key distribution, sub- carrier multiplexing. In this context, recent progress in the literature [4] remarks that photonics is a key enabling technology for implementing commercial QKD 1. Introduction systems to become a competitive technology in Information Security.