Design World

  • Home
  • Technologies
    • 3D CAD
    • Electronics • electrical
    • Fastening & Joining
    • Factory automation
    • Linear Motion
    • Motion Control
    • Test & Measurement
    • Sensors
    • Fluid power
  • Learn
    • Ebooks / Tech Tips
    • Engineering Week
    • Future of Design Engineering
    • MC² Motion Control Classrooms
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • LEAP AWARDS
  • Leadership
    • 2022 Voting
    • 2021 Winners
  • Design Guide Library
  • Resources
    • Subscribe!
    • 3D Cad Models
      • PARTsolutions
      • TraceParts
    • Digital Issues
      • Design World
      • EE World
    • Women in Engineering
  • Supplier Listings

Networking Goes Quantum

By University of Bristol | December 13, 2018

Share

A scientist involved in expanding quantum communication to a network of users, is continuing his work at the University of Bristol.

The enhanced cyber security offered by quantum communication has been historically limited to two partner exchanges. Now, for the first time, scientists have connected multiple users simultaneously on a quantum encrypted network without using trusted nodes.

Researchers from the Institute of Quantum Optics and Quantum Information (IQOQI) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, together with a collaborator from the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), report on the simple, seamless, cheap and secure network in the latest issue of the journal Nature, published today.

Co-author of the paper Dr. Siddarth Joshi who recently moved to the University of Bristol and is continuing to develop quantum networks in the Quantum Engineering Technology Labs, said: “We created a very versatile quantum communication network where every user can talk to every other user simultaneously.

“We plan to build even bigger networks with many more users, with the goal to create a versatile foundation for building a quantum internet.”

The Viennese team achieved the long-awaited quantum network using a novel architecture based on a new method of distributing a basic resource of quantum communication-entanglement.

An entangled system is one which is interconnected to such a degree that the individual parts can’t be fully described in isolation.

Entangled light particles, photons, are the fundamental resource used in quantum communication to distribute a secure encryption key. The Viennese team’s key innovation was in producing photons such that only certain wavelengths entangle with each other.

Like a rainbow, the signal was split into different ‘colours’ and distributed cleverly between the users, who then only required basic modules to connect to the single source of entanglement.

Dr. Joshi said: “By using quantum entanglement and standard passive telecommunication techniques of wavelength-based multiplexing we were able to interconnect four users in a network architecture that is scalable and requires minimal resources.”

Unlike previous efforts to create such a network, this new scheme allows all users to simultaneously communicate with all other users without using trusted nodes to relay the message. With no complex steps to route the entanglement to different users, the network is versatile, cheap and reliable.

The extension of point-to-point connections to networks represents an important step in the direction of a “quantum internet” and the researchers argue that their four-user network can be scaled to incorporate more connections.

Dr. Joshi said: “The number of users is limited by available wavelength channels and the desired fully connected network topology. However, we are working on a new scheme that will allow even more users to connect to the network.

“To achieve this, we plan on improving the scalability of the network presented in the Nature paper by changing the way we multiplex to allocate communication channels to each user.

“We aim to create a network that can support different types of users in different configurations that can dynamically change depending on current network traffic. The network also requires optimal routing, redundancy of paths and a degree of anonymity.”


Filed Under: M2M (machine to machine)

 

Related Articles Read More >

Part 6: IDE and other software for connectivity and IoT design work
Part 4: Edge computing and gateways proliferate for industrial machinery
Part 3: Trends in Ethernet, PoE, IO-Link, HIPERFACE, and single-cable solutions
Machine Learning for Sensors

DESIGN GUIDE LIBRARY

“motion

Enews Sign Up

Motion Control Classroom

Design World Digital Edition

cover

Browse the most current issue of Design World and back issues in an easy to use high quality format. Clip, share and download with the leading design engineering magazine today.

EDABoard the Forum for Electronics

Top global problem solving EE forum covering Microcontrollers, DSP, Networking, Analog and Digital Design, RF, Power Electronics, PCB Routing and much more

EDABoard: Forum for electronics

Sponsored Content

  • Industrial disc pack couplings
  • Pushing performance: Adding functionality to terminal blocks
  • Get to Know Würth Industrial Division
  • Renishaw next-generation FORTiS™ enclosed linear encoders offer enhanced metrology and reliability for machine tools
  • WAGO’s smartDESIGNER Online Provides Seamless Progression for Projects
  • Epoxy Certified for UL 1203 Standard

Design World Podcasts

July 26, 2022
Tech Tuesdays: Sorbothane marks 40 years of shock and vibration innovation
See More >
Engineering Exchange

The Engineering Exchange is a global educational networking community for engineers.

Connect, share, and learn today »

Design World
  • Advertising
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Manage your Design World Subscription
  • Subscribe
  • Design World Digital Network
  • Engineering White Papers
  • LEAP AWARDS

Copyright © 2022 WTWH Media LLC. All Rights Reserved. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of WTWH Media
Privacy Policy | Advertising | About Us

Search Design World

  • Home
  • Technologies
    • 3D CAD
    • Electronics • electrical
    • Fastening & Joining
    • Factory automation
    • Linear Motion
    • Motion Control
    • Test & Measurement
    • Sensors
    • Fluid power
  • Learn
    • Ebooks / Tech Tips
    • Engineering Week
    • Future of Design Engineering
    • MC² Motion Control Classrooms
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
    • Webinars
  • LEAP AWARDS
  • Leadership
    • 2022 Voting
    • 2021 Winners
  • Design Guide Library
  • Resources
    • Subscribe!
    • 3D Cad Models
      • PARTsolutions
      • TraceParts
    • Digital Issues
      • Design World
      • EE World
    • Women in Engineering
  • Supplier Listings