True quantum random number generator

Abstract

A photonic integrated system (100) for generating random numbers, comprising a light source (112) and a light-scattering medium (116) configured to receive light from the light source (112) and output scattered light to be processed together with non-scattered light from the light source (112) to produce light signals for generating the random numbers. The light-scattering medium is configured to scatter light received from a first light splitter to obtain scattered light and to output the scattered light to a second light splitter.

Description

[0001] True Quantum Random Number Generator

[0002] Technical field

[0003] The present disclosure relates to a photonic integrated system for generating random numbers, and to a method of generating random numbers in a photonic integrated system.

[0004] Background

[0005] A true quantum random number generator (QRNG) is a device or system that generates random numbers based on the principles of quantum mechanics. Unlike traditional random number generators that rely on deterministic algorithms, quantum random number generators use inherently random quantum processes to generate truly unpredictable and unbiased random numbers.

[0006] The term “true” in true QRNG is used to emphasize that the randomness generated by this type of device is fundamentally different from the pseudo-randomness generated by classical algorithms. In classical computing, deterministic algorithms may be used to produce sequences of numbers that appear random but are actually generated based on a known initial state (seed) and a well-defined algorithm. In contrast, QRNGs harness the inherent uncertainty and unpredictability present at the quantum level to generate numbers that are not based on any predetermined algorithm or initial state. This inherent unpredictability arises from the fundamental principles of quantum mechanics, making the randomness “true” in the sense that it is not determined by any underlying deterministic process.

[0007] Key components of a QRNG include a quantum source (e.g., a quantum light source) and a measurement apparatus. The quantum source, often based on a property of photons (such as their polarization or arrival time), may be used to generate quantum particles (e.g., photons) in a random and unpredictable manner. The quantum particles may then be measured using a quantum measurement apparatus. The properties of these particles are inherently uncertain according to quantum mechanics, leading to true randomness in the measurement outcomes. The measurement outcomes may be converted into random numbers using specific algorithms or processes, ensuring the random numbers generated are statistically random and unbiased.

[0008] Summary

[0009] A summary of aspects of certain examples disclosed herein is set forth below. It should be understood that these aspects are presented merely to provide the reader with a brief summary of these certain embodiments and that these aspects are not intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Indeed, this disclosure may encompass a variety of aspects and / or a combination of aspects that may not be set forth.

[0010] The present disclosure presents an improved true QRNG, based on a light source, which may be a coherent or a non-coherent light source, and a scattering medium. Advantageously, the solution of the present disclosure enables improved throughput by multiplexing multiple entropy sources and optimizing the amount of correlation between captured samples from the entropy sources. Furthermore, the true QRNG may be realized at lower cost by exploiting the photonic integration of highly coherent light sources, co-integration of analog electronics for signal conditioning and low-cost packaging. Complexity of the system may be reduced by implementing post-processing algorithms in resource efficient signal processors and the system may have a lower footprint by using photonic integration of entropy sources (e.g., coherent laser), light splitters and photodetectors.

[0011] According to an aspect of the disclosure, a photonic integrated system is presented for generating random numbers. The photonic integrated system comprises a light source, a first light splitter, a light-scattering medium, and at least a first and second light detector. The lightscattering medium may be configured to receive light from the light source and to output scattered light to be processed together with non-scattered light from the light source to produce light signals for generating the random numbers. The at least a first light detector may be configured to detect the non-scattered light, and the at least a second light detector may be configured to detect the scattered light.

[0012] The light source can be a coherent light source or a non-coherent light source. A noncoherent light source may have a larger degree of randomness than a coherent light source, and hence may lead to a higher bit generation rate. Some light sources, such as certain types of lasers and semiconductor optical amplifiers, may be operates in either a coherent or noncoherent range (e.g., depending on the supplied power). Thus, the light source may be a semiconductor laser semiconductor optical amplifiers operated in a non-coherent range.

[0013] In particular, in an embodiment, the photonic integrated system may include a noncoherent light source. The photonic integrated system may include a light-scattering medium configured to receive light from the non-coherent light source and output scattered light to be processed together with non-scattered light from the light source to produce light signals for generating the random numbers.

[0014] In an embodiment, the light-scattering medium may be configured to scatter light received from a first light splitter to obtain scattered light. The light-scattering medium may be configured to output the scattered light to a second light splitter.

[0015] In an embodiment, the photonic integrated system may include the first light splitter. The photonic integrated system may include the second light splitter. The photonic integrated system may include an even number N of light detectors. A first subsection of N / 2 of the light detectors may be coupled to the first light splitter. A second subsection of N / 2 of the light detectors may be coupled to the second light splitter. The first light splitter may be configured to split light received from the light source into a first plurality of N / 2 paths coupled to the first subsection of the light detectors and into a further path coupled to the light scattering medium. The light-scattering medium may be configured to scatter light received from the first light splitter to obtain scattered light. The second light splitter may be configured to split the scattered light received from the light-scattering medium into a second plurality of N / 2 paths coupled to the second subsection of the light detectors. The light detectors may be configured to detect light received via the first plurality of N / 2 paths and via the second plurality of N / 2 paths to obtain N light signals. The light detectors may be configured to pairwise output the N light signals, such that each pairwise output comprises a light signal from one of the light detectors of the first subsection of the light detectors and a light signal from one of the light detectors of the second subsection of the light detectors.

[0016] In an embodiment, the first light splitter and the second light splitter may be configured to split the light such that each of the N / 2 paths coupled to the first subsection of the light detectors and each of the N / 2 paths coupled to the second subsection of the light detectors include light produced at a substantially equal output power.

[0017] In an embodiment, the light source, the first light splitter, the light scattering medium, the second light splitter and the light detectors many be integrated into a photonic integrated device. As noted, the light source may be a coherent or non-coherent light source.

[0018] In an embodiment, the photonic integrated system may include an electronic device. The electronic device may be configured to receive the pairwise output from the light detectors. The electronic device may be configured to subtract the light signals in the pairwise output in a homodyne configuration to obtain processed signals.

[0019] In an embodiment, the electronic device may be configured to subtract the light signals in the pairwise output through an electrical signal conditioning bank.

[0020] In an embodiment, the photonic integrated system may include a processing module. The processing module may be configured to receive the processed signals from the electronic device. The processing module may be configured to perform a high speed digital conversion and entropy extraction on the processed signals.

[0021] In an embodiment, the entropy extraction may include application of an entropy extraction algorithm which results in an output of true random numbers.

[0022] In an embodiment, the processing module may be implemented as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC).

[0023] In an embodiment, the photonic integrated system may form a true QRNG. In an embodiment, the light-scattering medium is based on one of: free space optics, a heterogenous integration, or a monolithic integration.

[0024] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a light-scattering medium is presented. The light-scattering medium may be used in a photonic integrated system having one or more of the above described features. The light-scattering medium may be configured to scatter light received from a first light splitter to obtain scattered light. The light-scattering medium may be configured to output the scattered light to a second light splitter.

[0025] In an embodiment, the light-scattering medium may be a part of an photonic integrated device.

[0026] In an embodiment, the light-scattering medium may be based on free space optics.

[0027] In an embodiment, the light-scattering medium may be based on a heterogenous integration.

[0028] In an embodiment, the light-scattering medium may be based on a monolithic integration.

[0029] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a method of generating random numbers in a photonic integrated system is presented. The method comprises generating light by a light source of the photonic integrated system; splitting, by a first light splitter of the photonic integrated system, the light into a first path coupled to a first light detector of the photonic integrated system and into a further path coupled to a light-scattering medium of the photonic integrated system; scattering, by the light-scattering medium, light received from the first light splitter to obtain scattered light; and detecting, by the first light detector, non-scattered light received via the first path and detecting, by a second light detector, the scattered light received via the further path, to obtain two light signals.

[0030] The method may further comprises generating the random numbers based on the two light signals, e.g., via pair-wise processing of the two light signals. The pair-wise processing of the two light signals may comprises computing a difference between the two light signals.

[0031] The light source of the photonic integrated system may be a coherent light-source or a non-coherent light source.

[0032] In an embodiment, the splitting by the first light splitter comprises splitting the light into a first plurality of N / 2 paths coupled to a first subsection of light detectors of the photonic integrated system and into a further path coupled to a light-scattering medium of the photonic integrated system. In such an embodiment, the method may further comprise splitting, by a second light splitter of the photonic integrated system, the scattered light received from the light-scattering medium into a second plurality of N / 2 paths coupled to a second subsection of the light detectors; detecting, by the light detectors, light received via the first plurality of N / 2 paths and via the second plurality of N / 2 paths to obtain N light signals; and pairwise outputting the N light signals, such that each pairwise output comprises a light signal from one of the light detectors of the first subsection of the light detectors and a light signal from one of the light detectors of the second subsection of the light detectors.

[0033] In particular, in an embodiment, the method may include generating light by a noncoherent light source of the photonic integrated system. The method may further include splitting, by a first light splitter of the photonic integrated system, the light into a first plurality of N / 2 paths coupled to a first subsection of light detectors of the photonic integrated system and into a further path coupled to a light-scattering medium of the photonic integrated system. The method may further include scattering, by the light scattering medium, light received from the first light splitter to obtain scattered light. The method may further include splitting, by a second light splitter of the photonic integrated system, the scattered light received from the lightscattering medium into a second plurality of N / 2 paths coupled to a second subsection of the light detectors. The method may further include detecting, by the light detectors, light received via the first plurality of N / 2 paths and via the second plurality of N / 2 paths to obtain N light signals. The method may further include pairwise output the N light signals, such that each pairwise output comprises a light signal from one of the light detectors of the first subsection of the light detectors and a light signal from one of the light detectors of the second subsection of the light detectors.

[0034] In an embodiment, the method may further include splitting, by the first light splitter and the second light splitter, the light such that each of the N / 2 paths coupled to the first subsection of the light detectors and each of the N / 2 paths coupled to the second subsection of the light detectors include light produced at a substantially equal output power.

[0035] In an embodiment, the method may further include receiving, by an electronic device of the photonic integrated system, the pairwise output from the light detectors. The method may further include subtracting, by the electronic device, the light signals in the pairwise output in a homodyne configuration to obtain processed signals.

[0036] In an embodiment, the method may further include receiving, by a processing module of the photonic integrated system, the processed signals from the electronic device. The method may further include performing, by the processing module, a high speed digital conversion and entropy extraction on the processed signals to obtain the random numbers.

[0037] In an embodiment, the photonic integrated system may form a true QRNG.

[0038] Brief description of the figures

[0039] Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings in which corresponding reference symbol indicate corresponding parts, in which: Fig. 1A and 1 B show examples of photonic integrated systems for a scattering-based true QRNG, according to an aspect of the present disclosure;

[0040] Fig. 2A and 2B show examples of process of generating random numbers using the photonic integrated system, according to an aspect of the present disclosure; and

[0041] Fig. 3 shows an example embodiment of a computing system for implementing certain aspects of the present technology.

[0042] The figures are intended for illustrative purposes only, and do not serve as restriction of the scope of the protection as laid down by the claims.

[0043] Detailed description

[0044] It will be readily understood that the components of the embodiments as generally described herein and illustrated in the appended figures could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. Thus, the following more detailed description of various embodiments, as represented in the figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure but is merely representative of various embodiments. While the various aspects of the embodiments are presented in drawings, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale unless specifically indicated.

[0045] The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present disclosure is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims rather than by this detailed description. All changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope.

[0046] Reference throughout this specification to features, advantages, or similar language does not imply that all of the features and advantages that may be realized with the present disclosure should be or are in any single example of the present disclosure. Rather, language referring to the features and advantages is understood to mean that a specific feature, advantage, or characteristic described in connection with an embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Thus, discussions of the features and advantages, and similar language, throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, refer to the same example.

[0047] Furthermore, the described features, advantages, and characteristics of the present disclosure may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, in light of the description herein, that the present disclosure may be practiced without one or more of the specific features or advantages of a particular embodiment. In other instances, additional features and advantages may be recognized in certain embodiments that may not be present in all embodiments of the present disclosure. Reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the indicated embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Thus, the phrases “in one embodiment,” “in an embodiment,” and similar language throughout this specification may, but do not necessarily, all refer to the same embodiment.

[0048] The present disclosure presents an improved QRNG based on scattered-amplified spontaneous emission that increases the amount of randomness generated. The generator may include a semiconductor optical amplifier, a light scattering medium, light path splitters, a receiving module and a data collecting and processing module.

[0049] According to the quantum physical random process on the basis of scattered spontaneous emission from semiconductor optical amplifiers, digital signals may be generated by recognizing the light signal intensity and a random number may be extracted randomly through a quantum entropy distillation method.

[0050] Advantageously, the quantum random number generator of the present disclosure can be high in integration, low in cost and high in speed. QRNGs can leverage the inherent randomness of quantum physical processes to generate true random numbers. Nowadays, commercial QRNGs are mostly using shot noise for the random bit generation. The solution of the present disclosure improves the speed and randomness quality of the optics based QRNGs.

[0051] Fig. 1A shows an example embodiment of a photonic integrated system 100 for a scattering-based true QRNG according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The photonic integrated system 100 includes a photonic integrated device 110. Output from the photonic integrated device 110 may be input to signal and / or data processing system 130 configured to generate a true quantum random number stream based on the output of the photonic integrated device 110. In some embodiments, the signal and / or data processing system 130 may be included in the photonic integrated system; in other embodiments, the signal and / or data processing system 130 may be embodied as a separate module.

[0052] The photonic integrated device 110 includes, in general, the photonics-related parts of the photonic integrated system 100. In particular, the photonic integrated device 110 includes a light source 112, a first light splitter 114, a light-scattering medium 116, and first and second light detectors 122, 124. The light source 112 can be a coherent light source or a non-coherent light source. The light-scattering medium 116 may be configured to receive light from the light source 112 and to output scattered light to be processed together with non-scattered light from the light source 112 to produce light signals for generating the random numbers. The at least a first light detector 122 may be configured to detect the non-scattered light, and the at least a second light detector 124 may be configured to detect the scattered light. A more detailed description of possible implementations is provided below with reference to Fig. 1 B. Fig. 1 B shows an example embodiment of a photonic integrated system 100 for a scattering-based true QRNG according to an aspect of the present disclosure. The photonic integrated system 100 may include a photonic integrated device 110. Output from the photonic integrated device 110 may be input to an electronic device 150 including an electrical signal conditioning bank. Output from the electronic device 150 may be input to a processing module 160, such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) for high speed digital conversion and entropy extraction. The processing module 160 may output a true quantum random number stream 170.

[0053] Preferably, the electronic device 150 and the processing module 160 are parts of the photonic integrated system 100. Thus, a compact and integrated true QRNG may be achieved. Alternatively, one or both of the electronic device 150 and the processing module 160 may be external to the photonic integrated system 100 and communicatively connected to the respective parts. The electronic device 150 and the processing module 160 may be separate devices, integrated into a single device and / or integrated in the photonic integrated system 100.

[0054] The photonic integrated device 110 may include the photonics related parts of the photonic integrated system 100, such as a non-coherent light source 112, light splitters 114, 118, light-scattering medium 116 and light detectors 120.

[0055] The photonic integrated system 100 is based on scattered spontaneous emission from the non-coherent light source 112, such as semiconductor optical amplifiers. In an example, light from the non-coherent light source 112 may be generated by applying current, typically in a range of milliamperes (mA), to the semiconductor optical amplifier based non-coherent source. The light may produce an amplified spontaneous emission of output power, typically in the range of milliwatts (mW).

[0056] The currents driving the non-coherent light source 112 may be set at threshold currents of the semiconductor optical amplifier. Alternatively, the current may be set to optimize the system, e.g., to increase detectability of the light at the light detectors 120 after splitting the light at light splitters 114, 118. The current may be minimized to a level where the photonic integrated system 100 operates correctly at a minimal power consumption.

[0057] The light emitted by the non-coherent light source 112 may be split by light splitters 114, 118 into N multiple paths, in this example resulting in 1 / N mW of input power at each input port of the light detectors 120.

[0058] At the output ports of the first light splitter 114, a first portion of the light may be sent to a subsection of the light detectors 120, hereinafter referred to as the odd-numbered detectors 122,128. In Fig. 1 B, two of the odd-numbered detectors are shown: detectori 122 and detectorN 128. At the output ports of the first light splitter 114, another portion of the light may be scattered, split and detected by another subsection of the light detectors 120, hereinafter referred to as the even-numbered detectors 124, 126. In Fig. 1 B, two of the even-numbered detectors are shown: detector 124 and detectorN-i 126. The light may be detected at the even- numbered detectors 124, 126 after being scattered by a light-scattering medium 116 and split by the second light splitter 118.

[0059] Performance of the photonic integrated system 100 may be adapted by the configuration of the light-scattering medium 116.

[0060] The light-scattering medium 116 may induce and increase random intensity fluctuations in the amplified spontaneous emission from the non-coherent light source 112. This may be achieved by converting the photodetection statistics from a Poissonian distribution into a super-Poissonian distribution that has better randomness characteristics and allows a faster bit-generation rate.

[0061] After a photo-detection stage at the light detectors 120, the signals from the light detectors 120 may be subtracted in pairs from each other in a homodyne configuration, such that signals from the odd-numbered detectors 122, 128 are subtracted from the even- numbered detectors 124, 126 (or vice versa). In the example of Fig. 1 , the signal from detector may be subtracted from the signal from detectori and the signal from detectorN-i may be subtracted from the signal from detectorN. Hereto, the signals from the light detectors 120 may be processed by an electrical signal conditioning bank in the electronic device 150, where the signals are pairwise input at inputs 152, 154.

[0062] After the light detection, the electronic device 150 converts the photocurrent into voltage. The electronic device 150, may include an electronic analog device that may operate as a low noise transimpedance amplifier (TIA) with enough gain to cover an analog-to-digital convertor (ADC) range. The TIA may subtract the amplified voltages after photo-detection. The ADC may be part of an electronic digital device of the electronic device 150. The electronic digital device may include a processing unit, e.g., in the form of a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), graphics processing unit (GPU), ASIC, or any other suitable processing unit.

[0063] The signals from the light detectors 120 may be amplified before pairwise subtracting the signals in the homodyne configuration.

[0064] The electrical signal conditioning bank of the electronic device 150 may eliminate classical noises before sending the signals to input ports 162, 164 of the processing module 160, where the signals may be signal processed at high speeds.

[0065] At the processing module 160, random intensity fluctuations in the different signals may be detected and digitized at high speeds using classical capture, sampling and signal processing techniques with equalization algorithms. The obtained raw digital signals may then be processed through entropy extraction algorithms, such as a Toeplitz hash algorithm or any other suitable algorithm, to distil true random numbers. Thus, the photonic integrated system 100 may operate as a true QRNG to produce true random numbers.

[0066] The QRNG based on detecting scattered amplified spontaneous emission, implemented as a photonic integrated system 100 such as shown in Fig. 1A and 1 B, may achieve high integration densities at low cost compared to known quantum approaches, while delivering high-quality randomness at fast rates. The solution of the present disclosure may perform a fast-optical post processing compared to the raw data of a coherent light source 112 through the configuration of and processing by the electronic device 150 and the processing module 160.

[0067] The number N of multiple paths of light created by the first light splitter 114 and the second light splitter 118 may vary, e.g., depending on desired performance characteristics and cost constrains of the photonic integrated system 100. A higher number N of light paths may increase overall throughput of the system, resulting in a higher speed of generating of random numbers, but may be more complex and costly because of increase in the number of optical paths and detectors in the photonic integrated device 110 and a more complex processing module 160. In an example implementation, the number of multiple paths N may be 4, resulting in two pairwise subtractions of signals from even-numbered and odd-numbered detectors. In another example implementation, the number of multiple paths N may be 8, resulting in four pairwise subtractions of signals from even-numbered and odd-numbered detectors. In general, the number of multiple paths N may be any even number, resulting in N / 2 pairwise subtractions of signals from different even-numbered and odd-numbered detectors.

[0068] The photonic integrated system 100 may be used as a high-speed source of randomness (i.e., high speed true QRNG), e.g., in market segments such as quantum computation, trading, high performance computing and in quantum communications.

[0069] Main implementations, either through the use of free space optics, heterogenous integration or monolithic integration.

[0070] The light-scattering medium 116 may be implemented in various manners.

[0071] In a first example, the light-scattering medium 116 may be based on free space optics. Lenses may couple an incoming light beam to an outgoing light beam and align the light beam into concave mirrors to bounce the light, thereby performing the scattering.

[0072] In a second example, the light-scattering medium 116 may be based on heterogenous integration. The photonic integrated device 110 may be fabricated within a platform with better feature definition enabling low losses and complex designs, such as silicon nitride. Main components of such photonic integrated device 110 may include spot-size converters, waveguide tapers to enlarge the optical mode propagating into / out from the device and the light-scattering medium 116 designed using inverse design techniques with an target function that enables a random pattern that scatters the light.

[0073] In a third example, the light-scattering medium 116 may be based on monolithic integration. The main components of the photonic integrated device 110 in this third example are similar to the second example. With monolithic integration, losses may be more significant compared to heterogenous integration.

[0074] The light-scattering medium 116 may be based on a mixture of different implementations, such as the first, second and third example of light-scattering media described above.

[0075] Fig. 2A shows an example process 200 of generating random numbers. The example process 200 may be performed by the photonic integrated system 100 of Fig. 1A or 1 B.

[0076] A step 202 comprises generating light by the light source 112 of the photonic integrated system 100. The light source may be a coherent or a non-coherent light source.

[0077] A step 204 comprises splitting, by a first light splitter 114 of the photonic integrated system 100, the generated light into a first path coupled to a first light detector 122 of the photonic integrated system 100 and into a further path coupled to a light-scattering medium 116 of the photonic integrated system 100.

[0078] A step 206 comprises scattering, by the light-scattering medium 116, light received from the first light splitter 114 to obtain scattered light.

[0079] A step 210 comprises detecting, by the first light detector 122, non-scattered light received via the first path and detecting, by a second light detector 122, the scattered light received via the further path, to obtain two light signals. As described above, the two light signals may be used to generate a stream of true (quantum) random numbers.

[0080] Fig. 2B shows a further example process 200 of generating random numbers. The example process 200 may be performed by the photonic integrated system 100 of Fig. 1 B.

[0081] In step 202, the non-coherent light source 112 may generate light.

[0082] In step 204, the first light splitter 114 may split the light into the first plurality of N / 2 paths coupled to the first subsection 122, 128 of light detectors 120 and into the further path coupled to the light-scattering medium 116.

[0083] In step 206, the light-scattering medium 116 may scatter the light received from the first light splitter 114 to obtain scattered light.

[0084] In step 208, the second light splitter 118 may split the scattered light received from the light-scattering medium 116 into a second plurality of N / 2 paths coupled to the second subsection 124, 126 of the light detectors 120.

[0085] In step 210, the light detectors 120 may detect the light received via the first plurality of N / 2 paths and via the second plurality of N / 2 paths to obtain N light signals. In step 212, the N light signals may be output pairwise by the light detectors 120, such that each pairwise output comprises a light signal from one of the light detectors of the first subsection 122, 128 of the light detectors 120 and a light signal from one of the light detectors of the second subsection 124, 126 of the light detectors (120).

[0086] In step 214, the electronic device 150 may receive the pairwise output from the light detectors 120.

[0087] In step 216, the electronic device 150 may subtract the light signals in the pairwise output in a homodyne configuration to obtain processed signals.

[0088] In step 218, the processing module 160 may receive the processed signals from the electronic device 150.

[0089] In step 220, the processing module 160 may perform a high speed digital conversion and entropy extraction on the processed signals to obtain the random numbers.

[0090] Fig. 3 shows an example embodiment of a computing system 300 for implementing certain aspects of the present technology. In various examples, the computing system 300 may be any computing device making up the electronic device 150 or the processing module 160, any part of the photonic integrated device 100, or any other computing system described herein.

[0091] In some implementations, a computing system 300 may implement the methods described herein, such as method 200 of the present disclosure.

[0092] The computing system 300 may include any component of a computing system described herein, which components may be in communication with each other using connection 305. The connection 305 may be a physical connection via a bus, or a direct connection into processor 310, such as in a chipset architecture. The connection 305 may also be a virtual connection, networked connection, or logical connection.

[0093] In some implementations, the computing system 300 may be implemented as an FPGA, GPU or ASIC.

[0094] The example system 300 includes at least one processing unit (CPU or processor) 310 and a connection 305 that couples various system components including system memory 315, such as read-only memory (ROM) 320 and random-access memory (RAM) 325 to processor 310. The computing system 300 may include a cache of high-speed memory 312 connected directly with, in close proximity to, or integrated as part of the processor 310.

[0095] The processor 310 may include any general-purpose processor and a hardware service or software service, such as services 332, 334, and 336 stored in storage device 330, configured to control the processor 310 as well as a special-purpose processor where software instructions are incorporated into the actual processor design. The processor 310 may essentially be a completely self-contained computing system, containing multiple cores or processors, a bus, memory controller, cache, etc. A multi-core processor may be symmetric or asymmetric.

[0096] To enable user interaction, the computing system 300 may include an input device 345, which may represent any number of input mechanisms, such as a microphone for speech, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture or graphical input, keyboard, mouse, motion input, speech, etc. The computing system 300 may also include an output device 335, which may be one or more of a number of output mechanisms known to those of skill in the art. In some instances, multimodal systems may enable a user to provide multiple types of input / output to communicate with the computing system 300. The computing system 300 may include a communications interface 340, which may generally govern and manage the user input and system output. There is no restriction on operating on any particular hardware arrangement, and therefore the basic features here may easily be substituted for improved hardware or firmware arrangements as they are developed.

[0097] A storage device 330 may be a non-volatile memory device and may be a hard disk or other types of computer readable media which may store data that are accessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, solid state memory devices, digital versatile disks, cartridges, random access memories (RAMs), read-only memory (ROM), and / or some combination of these devices.

[0098] The storage device 330 may include software services, servers, services, etc., that, when the code that defines such software is executed by the processor 310, causes the system to perform a function. In some embodiments, a hardware service that performs a particular function may include a software component stored in a computer-readable medium in connection with the necessary hardware components, such as processor 310, connection 305, output device 335, etc., to carry out the function.

Claims

CLAIMS1 . A photonic integrated system (100) for generating random numbers, comprising: a light source (112); a first light splitter (114); a light-scattering medium (116) configured to receive light from the light source (112) and output scattered light to be processed together with non-scattered light from the light source (112) to produce light signals for generating the random numbers; and at least a first light detector (122) configured to detect the non-scattered light and at least a second light detector (124) configured to detect the scattered light.

2. The photonic integrated system (100) according to claim 1 , wherein the light source is a non-coherent light source.

3. The photonic integrated system (100) according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: a second light splitter (118); and wherein a first subsection (122,128) of N / 2 of the light detectors (120) is coupled to the first light splitter (114), and wherein a second subsection (124, 126) of N / 2 of the light detectors (120) is coupled to the second light splitter (118); wherein the first light splitter (114) is configured to split light received from the light source (112) into a first plurality of N / 2 paths coupled to the first subsection (122, 128) of the light detectors (120) and into a further path coupled to the light-scattering medium (116); wherein the light-scattering medium (116) is configured to scatter light received from the first light splitter (114) to obtain the scattered light; wherein the second light splitter (118) is configured to split the scattered light received from the light-scattering medium (116) into a second plurality of N / 2 paths coupled to the second subsection (124, 126) of the light detectors (120); wherein the light detectors (120) are configured to detect light received via the first plurality of N / 2 paths and via the second plurality of N / 2 paths to obtain N light signals; and wherein the light detectors (120) are configured to pairwise output the N light signals, such that each pairwise output comprises a light signal from one of the light detectors of the first subsection (122, 128) of the light detectors (120) and a light signal from one of the light detectors of the second subsection (124, 126) of the light detectors (120).

4. The photonic integrated system (100) according to claim 3, wherein the first light splitter (114) and the second light splitter (118) are configured to split the light such that each of the N / 2 paths coupled to the first subsection (122, 128) of the light detectors (120) and eachof the N / 2 paths coupled to the second subsection (124, 126) of the light detectors (120) include light produced at a substantially equal output power.

5. The photonic integrated system (100) according to claim 3 or claim 4, wherein the light source (112), the first light splitter (114), the light-scattering medium (116), the second light splitter (118) and the light detectors (120) are integrated into a photonic integrated device (110).

6. The photonic integrated system (100) according to any one of the claims 3-5, further comprising an electronic device (150), wherein the electronic device (150) is configured to receive the pairwise output from the light detectors (120), and wherein the electronic device (150) is configured to subtract the light signals in the pairwise output in a homodyne configuration to obtain processed signals.

7. The photonic integrated system (100) according to claim 6, wherein the electronic device (150) is configured to subtract the light signals in the pairwise output through an electrical signal conditioning bank.

8. The photonic integrated system (100) according to claim 6 or claim 7, further comprising a processing module (160); wherein the processing module (160) is configured to receive the processed signals from the electronic device (150); and wherein the processing module (160) is configured to perform a high speed digital conversion and entropy extraction on the processed signals.

9. The photonic integrated system (100) according to claim 8, wherein the entropy extraction comprises application of an entropy extraction algorithm which results in an output of true random numbers.

10. The photonic integrated system (100) according to claim 8 or claim 9, wherein the processing module (160) is implemented as an application specific integrated circuit, ASIC.

11. The photonic integrated system (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the photonic integrated system (100) forms a true quantum random number generator, QRNG.

12. The photonic integrated system (100) according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the light-scattering medium (116) is based on one of: free space optics, a heterogenous integration, or a monolithic integration.

13. A method (200) of generating random numbers in a photonic integrated system (100), the method comprising: generating (202) light by a light source (112) of the photonic integrated system (100); splitting (204), by a first light splitter (114) of the photonic integrated system (100), the light into a first path coupled to a first light detector (122) of the photonic integrated system (100) and into a further path coupled to a light-scattering medium (116) of the photonic integrated system (100); scattering (206), by the light-scattering medium (116), light received from the first light splitter (114) to obtain scattered light; and detecting (210), by the first light detector (122), non-scattered light received via the first path and, by a second light detector (122), the scattered light received via the further path, to obtain two light signals.

14. The method (200) according to claim 13, wherein the light source is a non-coherent light source.

15. The method (200) according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the splitting (204) by the first light splitter (114) comprises splitting the light into a first plurality of N / 2 paths coupled to a first subsection (122, 128) of light detectors (120) of the photonic integrated system (100) and into a further path coupled to a light-scattering medium (116) of the photonic integrated system (100); the method further comprising: splitting (208), by a second light splitter (118) of the photonic integrated system (100), the scattered light received from the light-scattering medium (116) into a second plurality of N / 2 paths coupled to a second subsection (124, 126) of the light detectors (120); detecting (210), by the light detectors (120), light received via the first plurality of N / 2 paths and via the second plurality of N / 2 paths to obtain N light signals; and pairwise outputting (212) the N light signals, such that each pairwise output comprises a light signal from one of the light detectors of the first subsection (122, 128) of the light detectors (120) and a light signal from one of the light detectors of the second subsection (124, 126) of the light detectors (120).

16. The method (200) according to any one of the claims 13-15, further comprising:splitting, by the first light splitter (114) and the second light splitter (118), the light such that each of the N / 2 paths coupled to the first subsection (122, 128) of the light detectors (120) and each of the N / 2 paths coupled to the second subsection (124, 126) of the light detectors (120) include light produced at a substantially equal output power.

17. The method (200) according to any one of the claims 13-16, further comprising: receiving (214), by an electronic device (150) of the photonic integrated system (100), the pairwise output from the light detectors (120); and subtracting (216), by the electronic device (150), the light signals in the pairwise output in a homodyne configuration to obtain processed signals.

18. The method (200) according to claim 17, further comprising: receiving (218), by a processing module (160) of the photonic integrated system (100), the processed signals from the electronic device (150); and performing (220), by the processing module (160), a high speed digital conversion and entropy extraction on the processed signals to obtain the random numbers.

19. The method (200) according to any one of the claims 13-18, wherein the photonic integrated system (100) forms a true quantum random number generator, QRNG.

Images