Optical Signal Obfuscation Using Time-Varying Transmission Modulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing optical transmission systems struggle to securely transmit and receive data, with encryption and decryption being computationally expensive and computationally expensive, and service providers wishing to provide a secure channel must ensure that their customers are using encryption, or they must do bulk encryption and decryption at either end of a channel. Existing optical transmission systems fail to securely transmit and receive data, with encryption and decryption being computationally expensive, and service providers wishing to provide a secure channel must ensure that their customers are using encryption, or they must do bulk encryption and decryption at either end of a channel. Existing encryption and decryption carry a computational cost, and service providers may not be sufficiently sophisticated to ensure all communications are encrypted, and the cost of doing bulk encryption is not attractive to many service providers.
Innovation Solution
The proposed solution involves modifying optical signals using time-varying modifications controlled by secret values stored in memory, such as delays, amplitudes, phase offsets, polarizations, and spectrum shapes, to generate obfuscated optical signals, which are then multiplexed and demultiplexed to enhance security, with corresponding modifications at the receiver to partially deobfuscate the signal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If encryption is performed in the electrical domain, then data security is improved, but computational cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces electrical domain encryption operations with optical domain signal processing. Optical modulators directly modulate optical signals with encrypted data patterns, eliminating the need for electrical encryption/decryption computations. This substitution of optical processing for electrical computation reduces computational cost while maintaining security through the physical properties of light.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the domain of operation from electrical to optical, utilizing optical signal parameters (intensity, phase, polarization) to encode and transmit encrypted data. By transforming the data representation into the optical domain, the system achieves security without the computational overhead of traditional electrical encryption algorithms.
2Reliability
If bulk encryption and decryption are performed at either end of a channel, then data security is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates complex electrical encryption/decryption devices by using optical modulators and detectors that naturally perform secure signal transmission through optical domain processing. The optical system inherently provides security through the physical manipulation of light properties without requiring complex computational hardware.
3Ease of operation
If optical signals are transmitted without obfuscation, then transmission simplicity is improved, but detectability by interlopers increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies time-varying modifications to optical signal parameters (amplitude, phase, polarization) based on secret values to obfuscate the transmitted signal. These parameter changes make the optical signal difficult to detect and interpret by interlopers while maintaining the ability to retrieve the original data at the receiver using the corresponding secret values.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2C
Figure 2D~2F
AI summary
A system and method for obfuscating an optical signal is disclosed. Obfuscating the optical signal may make it more difficult for the optical signal to be detected by an interloper. In one embodiment, an optical signal is received at an optical transmitter, and an obfuscated optical signal is generated by performing a modification of the received optical signal. The obfuscated optical signal is then transmitted from the optical transmitter to an optical receiver. An at least partially deobfuscated optical signal is generated at the optical receiver by performing a modification of the obfuscated optical signal. The modification performed at the optical receiver corresponds to the modification performed at the optical transmitter.