Secure Key Distribution System Based on Optical Channel Physical Features

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel key distribution system based on the measurement of the bit error rate (BER) in a fiber channel. By carrying out the loopback BER measurement at both the transmitting and the receiving end, the BER is quantified and codified to generate consistency keys. Alice and Bob respectively encrypt the signal with the help of the public key base at the transmitting end. At the receiving end the data are decrypted and then the BER is measured. The security of generated keys in the system is enhanced by the use of the encryption base and the randomness of the channel. Additionally, noise sources are added to the channel so that the random noise conceals signals and Eve cannot eavesdrop the useful information in it. Due to the randomness of the channel noise, the generated keys have good randomness. This system at a high key generation rate is compatible with the existing communication device and its measurement is simple. The 10G bit/s-200 km coherent optical communication system is used to measure the BER of the security feature information of the extracted channel. The experimental results show that the key distribution system obtains a consistency rate of 98% with the key generation rate 2 Mbps, both of which have been significantly improved.

Keywords

• Bit error rate (BER)
• consistency keys
• security feature
• key generation rate.