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MadQCI: a heterogeneous and scalable SDN QKD network deployed in production facilities

V. Martin, J. P. Brito, L. Ortiz, R. B. Mendez, J. S. Buruaga, R. J. Vicente, A. Sebastián-Lombraña, D. Rincon, F. Perez, C. Sanchez, M. Peev, H. H. Brunner, F. Fung, A. Poppe, F. Fröwis, A. J. Shields, R. I. Woodward, H. Griesser, S. Roehrich, F. De La Iglesia, C. Abellan, M. Hentschel, J. M. Rivas-Moscoso, A. Pastor, J. Folgueira, D. R. Lopez

arXiv:2311.12791v2quant-ph

TL;DR

Existing QKD networks often rely on costly, isolated infrastructure optimized for key rate, while integration with telecommunications networks remains an open challenge. MadQCI deploys heterogeneous QKD systems using flexible networking paradigms in production telecommunications facilities alongside commercial traffic. The network demonstrated feasibility through diverse use cases and operation over close to three years, with most nodes continuously active.

  • Problem

    Many QKD networks use costly, ad hoc infrastructure focused on maximizing key rate, and integration with classical telecommunications infrastructure and operational procedures remains to be found.

    Source: p. 2

  • Method

    MadQCI integrates QKD modules from multiple manufacturers into production telecommunications networks, using SDN, shared infrastructure, and commercial encryptors adapted to refresh keys from the quantum network.

    Source: pp. 2–3

  • Results

    The network demonstrated the feasibility of large QKD deployments, with most nodes continuously active during testing close to three years.

    Source: p. 18

  • Takeaways & Limitations

    The authors present MadQCI as a blueprint for flexible QKD deployments integrated with production networking and security ecosystems.

    Source: pp. 3, 17

Abstract

from arXiv · show

Current quantum key distribution (QKD) networks focus almost exclusively on transporting secret keys with the highest possible rate. Consequently, they are built as mostly fixed, ad hoc, logically, and physically isolated infrastructures designed to avoid any penalty to the quantum channel. This architecture is neither scalable nor cost-effective and future, real-world deployments will differ considerably. The structure of the MadQCI QKD network presented here is based on disaggregated components and modern paradigms especially designed for flexibility, upgradability, and facilitating the integration of QKD in the security and telecommunications-networks ecosystem. These underlying ideas have been tested by deploying many QKD systems from several manufacturers in a real-world, multi-tenant telecommunications network, installed in production facilities and sharing the infrastructure with commercial traffic. Different technologies have been used in different links to address the variety of situations and needs that arise in real networks, exploring a wide range of possibilities. Finally, a set of realistic use cases have been implemented to demonstrate the validity and performance of the network. The testing took place during a period close to three years, where most of the nodes were continuously active.

Supplementary Material

The supplementary use cases span industrial, cloud, health, 5G, network-security, and quantum-enabled services. Their reported results are tentative, with final performance analysis still pending.

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