Methods and apparatuses for authentication in quantum key distribution and/or quantum data communication

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10848303-B2
Application number	US-201615556152-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 9, 2016
Priority date	Mar 9, 2015
Publication date	Nov 24, 2020
Grant date	Nov 24, 2020

Abstract

Systems and methods of authenticating and/or communicating key and/or data between communication parties using quantum channels are provided. In some embodiments, authentication may be provided during transmission (including at various stages), without transmission, before transmission, and/or without keys. Such systems and methods allow authentication to be performed on a bit-by-bit basis using the same quantum communication channel. Further, these systems and methods prevent an eavesdropper from gaining useful information, and/or allow man-in-the-middle attacks to be detected.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for communicating using a quantum protocol, the method comprising:
preparing a first quantum state Ψ 0 , wherein the first quantum state Ψ 0 is randomly selected and not shared with any third party;
generating a random quantum state θ with a random number generator;
coupling the first quantum state Ψ 0 with the random quantum state θ to generate a second quantum state Ψ 1 ;
transmitting the second quantum state Ψ 1 to a desired party; and
receiving a third quantum state Ψ 2 from the desired party after transmitting the second quantum state Ψ 1 ,
wherein the third quantum state Ψ 2 is equal to the second quantum state Ψ 1 coupled with an authentication key φ and a quantum state θ x , wherein the quantum state θ x is prepared based on information X; or
the third quantum state Ψ 2 is equal to the second quantum state Ψ 1 coupled with the quantum state θ x , wherein the quantum state θ x is prepared based on the information X; or
the third quantum state Ψ 2 is equal to the second quantum state Ψ 1 coupled with the authentication key φ.

2. The method of claim 1 , when the third quantum state Ψ 2 is equal to the second quantum state Ψ 1 coupled with the authentication key φ and the quantum state θ x , further comprising the step of coupling the third quantum state Ψ 2 with a negative of the random quantum state θ and a negative of the authentication key φ to generate a fourth quantum state Ψ B to recover the information X.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising utilizing the first quantum state Ψ 0 as an orthogonal base to measure the fourth quantum state Ψ B .

4. The method of claim 1 , when the third quantum state Ψ 2 is equal to the second quantum state Ψ 1 coupled with the quantum state θ x , further comprising the step of coupling the third quantum state Ψ 2 with a negative of the random quantum state θ to generate a fourth quantum state Ψ B to recover the information X.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first quantum state Ψ 0 is different for each bit transmitted.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising randomly selecting bits to check a bit error rate.

7. The method of claim 1 , when the third quantum state Ψ 2 is equal to the second quantum state Ψ 1 coupled with the authentication key φ, further comprising the step of coupling the third quantum state Ψ 2 with a negative of the random quantum state θ and a negative of the authentication key φ to generate a fourth quantum state, wherein the desired party is authenticated if the fourth quantum state is equal to the first quantum state Ψ 0 .

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein an alarm is triggered to indicate authentication has failed if the fourth quantum state is not equal to the first quantum state Ψ 0 .

9. A method for communicating using a quantum protocol, the method comprising:
receiving a second quantum state Ψ 1 from a desired party, wherein the second quantum state Ψ 1 is equal to a first quantum state Ψ 0 coupled with a random quantum state θ,
where the first quantum state Ψ 0 is randomly selected and not shared with any third party,
the random quantum state θ is generated with a random number generator; and
transmitting a third quantum state Ψ 2 to the desired party after receiving the second quantum state Ψ 1 ,
wherein the third quantum state Ψ 2 is equal to the second quantum state Ψ 1 coupled with an authentication key φ and a quantum state θ x , wherein the quantum state θ x , is prepared based on information X; or
the third quantum state Ψ 2 is equal to the second quantum state Ψ 1 coupled with a quantum state θ x , wherein the quantum state θ x is prepared based on information X; or
the third quantum state Ψ 2 is equal to the second quantum state Ψ 1 coupled with an authentication key φ.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein when the third quantum state Ψ 2 is equal to the second quantum state Ψ 1 coupled with the authentication key φ and the quantum state θ x , the third quantum state Ψ 2 is capable of being coupled with a negative of the random quantum state θ and a negative of the authentication key φ to generate a fourth quantum state Ψ B to recover the information X.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the first quantum state Ψ 0 is capable of being utilized as an orthogonal base to measure the fourth quantum state Ψ B .

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising randomly selecting bits to check a bit error rate, wherein if the bit error rate exceeds an acceptable rate, an alarm is triggered to indicate authentication has failed.

13. The method of claim 9 , wherein when the third quantum state Ψ 2 is equal to the second quantum state Ψ 1 coupled with the quantum state θ x , the third quantum state Ψ 2 is capable of being coupled with a negative of the random quantum state θ to generate a fourth quantum state TB to recover the information X.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the first quantum state Ψ 0 is capable of being utilized as an orthogonal base to measure the fourth quantum state Ψ B .

15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising randomly selecting bits to check a bit error rate, wherein if the bit error rate exceeds an acceptable rate, an alarm is triggered to indicate authentication has failed.

16. The method of claim 9 , wherein the first quantum state Ψ 0 is different for each bit received.

17. The method of claim 9 , further comprising randomly selecting bits to check a bit error rate.

18. The method of claim 9 , wherein when the third quantum state Ψ 2 is equal to the second quantum state Ψ 1 coupled with the authentication key φ, the third quantum state Ψ 2 is capable of being coupled with a negative of the random quantum state θ and a negative of the authentication key φ to generate a fourth quantum state, wherein the desired party authenticates a third party sending the second quantum state Ψ 1 if the fourth quantum state is equal to the first quantum state Ψ 0 .

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein an alarm is triggered to indicate authentication has failed if the fourth quantum state is not equal to the first quantum state Ψ 0 .

Assignees

• Chen Yuhua
• Univ Houston System

Inventors

• Chen Yuhua

Classifications

• H04B10/70

  Photonic quantum communication · CPC title

• H04L9/0852 Primary

  Quantum cryptography (transmission systems employing electromagnetic waves other than radio waves, e.g. light, infrared H04B10/00; wavelength-division multiplex systems H04J14/02; WDM arrangements H04J14/03) · CPC title

• H04L9/32

  including means for verifying the identity or authority of a user of the system {or for message authentication, e.g. authorization, entity authentication, data integrity or data verification, non-repudiation, key authentication or verification of credentials} · CPC title