QITTY - Quantum Communication Chip-Scale Co-Integration for Zero-Trust Datacenter Security
Project goals
Development of chips for quantum random number generation (QRNG) and continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV QKD): PIC based (SOI platform with polarization control, receiver and transmitter) as well as fully monolithically integrated CV receiver (photonics + electronics on the same wafer). Experimental evaluation for data-center application.
Description
Cloud services have become widely adopted in the past years bringing flexibility and reduced IT cost for business but possible creating a security loophole. Provider of these are datacenters, which have so far focused their security measures on metro-core interconnects (North-South traffic) supported by information-theoretic quantum key distribution (QKD). However, internal traffic (East-West) remains so far unprotected. Including quantum primitives into internal datacenter operation (zero trust model) requires significant down-scaling of QKD technology and making it cost-effective to be integrated within datacenter equipment while at the same time being able to operate in harsh working environment (EMI, massive data traffic, high temperature). Chip scale integration comes as a natural solution that supports Continuous-variable QKD (CV-QKD) implementation.
Start: 01.10.2022
End: 30.09.2025
Funding:
- FFG / Quantum Austria 2022
- AIT is leading the project and the only participant (no partners).
In the past years an increased effort to scale down the CV-QKD hardware is made. Moving on from discrete solutions, the momentum is gained in PIC-based solutions which can realize all critical components on a chip thus dramatically downscaling the parasitics and noise.
This is where QITTY steps in with its heavily hardware-oriented nature to develop solutions such as photonic integrated circuit (PIC) based CV-QKD receiver and transmitter, as well as fully monolithically integrated optoelectronic CV-QKD receiver for ultra low-noise performance.
Monolithically Integrated Ultra-Low Noise Balanced Receiver for CV-QKD. © IEEE 2024. Reprinted with permission. D. Milovančev and N. Vokić, “Monolithically Integrated Ultra-Low Noise Balanced Receiver for CV-QKD”, 47th MIPRO ICT and Electronics Convention, Opatija, Croatia, 20-24 May 2024.
Added values to these integrated solutions will be integrated all-silicon polarization control and quantum/classical operation using the same hardware enabled by flexible format transmitter and dual-rate transimpedance amplifier. Continuous-variable QKD is chosen as the natural companion of coherent intra-datacenter communication engines, drawing synergies from the mature silicon photonic integration platform, as well as high-speed optoelectronic platform with silicon photonic and BiCMOS electronics on single wafer, for secure-key rates of >10 Mb/s. QITTY’s low-noise CV receivers, will further serve at the core of a 10 Gb/s vacuum-noise QRNG.