US-20260128867-A1 - Secure Communications Among Multiple Entities Using Quantum Entanglement

US20260128867A1US 20260128867 A1US20260128867 A1US 20260128867A1US-20260128867-A1

Abstract

Systems and techniques may generally be adapted for establishing secure communications with use of quantum entanglement, including via the use of mesh networks and multiple satellite communication locations. An example technique may include generating a stream of quantum entangled particles, and transmitting at least part of the stream of the quantum entangled particles to at least a first node, a second node, and an intermediate node connected via a satellite communication network. In this context, the intermediate node is located between the first node and the second node, and a secure trusted mesh of entities can be established among the first, second, and intermediate nodes. The stream of the quantum entangled particles can used to derive a quantum entangled value, such as for use with a cryptographic protocol of secure communications between the first node and the second node via the satellite communication network.

Inventors

Peter Burton Bordow
Michael Erik MEINHOLZ
Tahereh Rezaei
Bradford A. SHEA

Assignees

Peter Burton Bordow
Michael Erik MEINHOLZ
Tahereh Rezaei
Bradford A. SHEA

Dates

Publication Date: 20260507
Application Date: 20240930

Claims (20)

1 . A method for establishing secure communications with quantum entanglement, comprising: generating a stream of quantum entangled particles; and transmitting at least part of the stream of the quantum entangled particles to at least a first node, a second node, and an intermediate node connected via a satellite communication network, wherein the intermediate node is located between the first node and the second node; wherein the stream of the quantum entangled particles is used to derive a quantum entangled value for use with a cryptographic protocol of secure communications between the first node and the second node via the satellite communication network.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: splitting the stream of quantum entangled particles at the first node into a first stream portion and a first remaining stream portion of the quantum entangled particles, wherein transmitting the stream of the quantum entangled particles to at least the second node includes transmitting at least part of the first remaining stream portion from the first node to the intermediate node.
3 . The method of claim 2 , further comprising: splitting the first remaining stream portion of the quantum entangled particles at the intermediate node into an intermediate stream portion and an intermediate remaining stream portion of the quantum entangled particles; wherein transmitting the stream of the quantum entangled particles to at least the second node includes transmitting the intermediate remaining stream portion from the intermediate node to the second node.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein splitting the stream of quantum entangled particles at the first node comprises using a first beamsplitter at the first node, and wherein splitting the stream of quantum entangled particles at the intermediate node comprises using an intermediate beamsplitter at the intermediate node.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first node, the second node, and the intermediate node are respective satellites in the satellite communication network.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first node and the second node are located on-Earth while connected to the satellite communication network.
7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein an observation of the quantum entangled particles occurs exclusively at the first node and the second node to derive the quantum entangled value.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the intermediate node is a quantum networking repeater, wherein the quantum networking repeater uses entanglement swapping to establish an entanglement between (i) a first set of entangled particles exchanged between the first node and the intermediate node and (ii) a second set of entangled particles exchanged between the intermediate node and the second node.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the cryptographic protocol includes use of a random number produced from a quantum-derived seed as input to a random number generator, and wherein the quantum-derived seed is based on the quantum entangled value.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the random number generator produces the random number based on measurements of the quantum-derived seed from the quantum entangled particles, and wherein the first node measures a first particle in a pair of quantum entangled particles and wherein the second node measures a second particle in the pair of quantum entangled particles.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the measurements of the quantum-derived seed are based on measuring a spin state for each electron in a stream of entangled electron pairs, and wherein each measurement provides a corresponding bit value of the random number.
12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the measurements of the quantum-derived seed are based on detecting a path of single photons sent through a beamsplitter having two output paths, wherein detecting a first single photon at a first output path of the beamsplitter provides a first bit value of the random number, and wherein detecting a second single photon at a second output path of the beamsplitter provides a second bit value of the random number, the first bit value being different than the second bit value.
13 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the measurements of the quantum-derived seed are based on measuring a polarization state for each photon in a stream of entangled photon pairs, and wherein each measurement provides a corresponding bit value for the random number.
14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the measurements of the quantum-derived seed are based on recording a series of arrival times of a stream of photons at a detector, and wherein a difference or variation in arrival time between subsequent single photons provides a bit value for the random number.
15 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the measurements of the quantum-derived seed are based on measuring decay times of a radioactive isotope, and wherein a difference or variation in decay time between successive decay events of the radioactive isotope provides a bit value for the random number.
16 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the quantum entangled particles comprise a pair of entangled qubits, wherein the measurements of the quantum-derived seed are based on measuring a phase of one qubit of the pair of entangled qubits at different evolution times, and wherein an output of measuring the phase is quantified to provide a bit value for the random number.
17 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: generating another stream of quantum entangled particles; and transmitting at least part of the another stream of the quantum entangled particles to at least a third node and another intermediate node connected via the satellite communication network, wherein the another intermediate node is located between the second node and the third node; wherein the another stream of the quantum entangled particles is used to derive another quantum entangled value for use with the cryptographic protocol of secure communications between the second node and the third node via the satellite communication network.
18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein use of the cryptographic protocol of secure communications between the first node and the second node, and between the second node and the third node, is used to establish secure communications between the first node and the third node.
19 . At least one non-transitory machine-readable medium including instructions, which when executed by processing circuitry of a first node in a computing network, cause the processing circuitry to perform operations comprising: generating a stream of quantum entangled particles; and transmitting at least part of the stream of the quantum entangled particles to at least a first node, a second node, and an intermediate node connected via a satellite communication network, wherein the intermediate node is located between the first node and the second node; wherein the stream of the quantum entangled particles is used to derive a quantum entangled value for use with a cryptographic protocol of secure communications between the first node and the second node via the satellite communication network.
20 . A node in a computing network, the node comprising: processing circuitry; and memory, including instructions, which when executed by the processing circuitry, cause the processing circuitry to perform operations to: control generation of a stream of quantum entangled particles; and control transmission of at least part of the stream of the quantum entangled particles to at least a first node, a second node, and an intermediate node connected via a satellite communication network, wherein the intermediate node is located between the first node and the second node; wherein the stream of the quantum entangled particles is used to derive a quantum entangled value for use with a cryptographic protocol of secure communications between the first node and the second node via the satellite communication network.

Description

BACKGROUND Quantum entanglement is a phenomenon where two or more particles become linked in such a way that the state of one particle instantaneously influences the state of the other, regardless of the distance separating them. When a measurement is made on one entangled particle, the measurement result can predict the outcome of a similar measurement on the other particle. Entanglement is utilized in quantum cryptography applications, often as a secure source of random numbers. A variety of applications are being researched in the area of quantum cryptography to improve secure communications, such as to develop and deploy cryptographic protocols that use quantum entanglement as a source of randomness. However, one technical challenge with the use of quantum entanglement is that many experimental scenarios involving secure communications are limited to direct communications between two parties, based on line-of-sight transmissions of quantum entangled particles. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numerals may describe similar components in different views. Like numerals having different letter suffixes may represent different instances of similar components. The drawings illustrate generally, by way of example, but not by way of limitation, various embodiments discussed in the present document. FIG. 1 illustrates a system to distribute a stream of entangled photons to a first location and a second location in a computing network, in accordance with some examples. FIG. 2 illustrates an arrangement of a satellite-based communication network, configured to use quantum entanglements for establishing a chain of trusted entities, in accordance with some examples. FIG. 3A illustrates a satellite-based communication network using multi-way streams of quantum entanglement among multiple entities, in accordance with some examples. FIG. 3B illustrates a satellite-based communication network using entanglement swapping for quantum entanglement among multiple parties, in accordance with some examples. FIG. 4A illustrates modification of a cryptographic algorithm, in accordance with some examples. FIG. 4B illustrates modification of control flow within a program, in accordance with some examples. FIG. 5 illustrates a flowchart showing a technique for establishing secure communications with quantum entanglement, in accordance with some examples. FIG. 6A illustrates a flowchart showing a technique for determining a quantum entangled value based on multi-way streams of quantum entanglement among multiple entities, in accordance with some examples. FIG. 6B illustrates a flowchart showing a technique for determining a quantum entangled value based on entanglement swapping among multiple entities, in accordance with some examples. FIG. 7 illustrates a node including components for communication, generation of cryptographic data, quantum data, storage, and processing in accordance with some examples. FIG. 8 illustrates generally an example of a block diagram of a computing machine upon which any one or more of the techniques discussed herein may perform in accordance with some examples. DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following introduces approaches for establishing quantum entanglement among multiple entities, to increase the number of entities that can be involved in transmitting information and to introduce aspects of quantum networking into long-distance networks such as satellite communication networks. Approaches are disclosed for establishing a trusted chain of quantum entangled entities, allowing a set of two or more entities to establish a trusted and secure communication state with one another. In some examples, the trusted chain of quantum entangled entities may be established with the use of quantum entanglement, which can be used to grow a trusted chain of entities. At different portions of the trusted chain of entities, two entities can obtain a random value from the quantum entanglement to establish secure communications with each other—even if there may be one or more intermediate entities and/or a large distance between one another. The following introduces approaches that establish and use quantum entanglement by transmitting quantum-entangled information such as a stream of photons. Among other use cases, this enables the trusted chain of quantum-entangled entities to be established among more than two nodes at distant locations, such as among satellites located in a multi-satellite mesh (e.g., a low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellation). This trusted chain of entities may be accomplished from the use of independent quantum entanglements or relayed quantum entanglements between sets of satellites in the mesh, between sets of satellites in different constellations, between a satellite and a ground station, and other combinations. In some examples, quantum entanglement can be used to provide the same random number to a first node and a second node i