Contemporary quantum cryptography protocols like the BB84 and its variants suffer from the limitation of reaching the distances of only Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at the data rates of few kilobits per second. This makes it impossible to develop a general satellite-based secure global communication network using the existing protocols. The method proposed in this paper allows secure communication at the heights of the Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) and Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites. The benefits of the proposed method are two-fold: First it enables the realization of a secure global communication network based on satellites and second it provides unconditional security for satellite networks at GEO heights. The multi-photon approach discussed in this paper ameliorates the distance and speed issues associated with quantum cryptography through the use of contemporary laser communication (lasercom) devices. This approach can be seen as a step ahead towards global quantum communication. |
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CITATIONS
Cited by 1 scholarly publication.
Satellites
Satellite communications
Quantum communications
Quantum key distribution
Polarization
Receivers
Single photon