QKD Privacy Amplification Using Pre-Defined Bit Mapping

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional QKD post-processing methods, particularly privacy amplification, suffer from high computational complexity due to large data strings, leading to inefficient throughput and increased processing time.

Innovation Solution

A device and method that generate a pre-defined map based on the information reconciliation scheme to reduce the input length for privacy amplification, using parity-check and generator matrices to identify a compact signature, and apply a one-to-one mapping to extract a shorter output data string for privacy amplification.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If conventional privacy amplification is performed on the full error corrected data string, then security is maintained, but computational complexity increases and throughput decreases

Engineering Contradiction:
ImprovethroughputVSAvoidcomputational complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the necessary portion of the error corrected data string for privacy amplification by applying a pre-defined map that identifies which bits contain information about the secret key. This extraction principle reduces the input size to privacy amplification while maintaining security, directly resolving the contradiction between throughput and computational complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the error corrected data string into different portions: bits that are directly used for key generation and bits that are used for syndrome calculation. By applying the map to identify and process only the relevant segments, the system achieves higher throughput without compromising security, as each segment is processed appropriately.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Loss of time

If the full error corrected data string is used as input to privacy amplification, then all information is processed, but processing time increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprocessing timeVSAvoidinformation completeness
Core Design Contradiction:
Loss of timeVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The map extracts only the essential bits from the error corrected data string that contain information about the secret key. This extraction ensures that no critical information is lost while significantly reducing the processing time required for privacy amplification, as the function operates on a smaller, optimized input set.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The pre-defined map is prepared in advance based on the information reconciliation scheme, performing preliminary identification of which bits are relevant for key generation. This preliminary action eliminates the need for complex real-time analysis during privacy amplification, reducing processing time while preserving information completeness.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

3Reliability

If a larger randomness string is used for privacy amplification, then security is enhanced, but resource requirements increase

Engineering Contradiction:
ImprovesecurityVSAvoidrandomness resource
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSQuantity of substance

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the essential randomness requirements by applying the map to identify the minimum number of random bits needed for secure key generation. This approach maintains security by ensuring sufficient randomness is used while minimizing resource consumption, directly addressing the contradiction between security and randomness resource requirements.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Data Source

PatentEP3906634B1Device and method for processing data of a quantum key distribution system
Publication Date: 2025.06.25 HUAWEI TECH DUESSELDORF
  • EP3906634B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3906634B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3906634B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

The present disclosure provides a device for processing data of a Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system. The device is configured to obtain a pre-defined map based on an information reconciliation scheme; apply the obtained map to an error corrected data string to generate an output data string, the output data string being shorter than the error corrected data string; and perform privacy amplification on the output data string.