Quantum-safe communications: from today's deployments to what's next

1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,700 Quantum-safe networks are no longer a distant vision. 2 00:00:02,700 --> 00:00:05,280 They are becoming a deployment reality. 3 00:00:05,700 --> 00:00:07,780 Current optical infrastructure is the 4 00:00:07,780 --> 00:00:09,720 foundation of those networks, and Layer 1 5 00:00:09,720 --> 00:00:12,140 encryption is where quantum resilience begins. 6 00:00:12,540 --> 00:00:14,980 My name is Paola Osorio, and I'm a product line 7 00:00:14,980 --> 00:00:17,220 manager for optical systems here at Ciena. 8 00:00:17,220 --> 00:00:18,340 Today, we're going to talk 9 00:00:18,340 --> 00:00:20,000 about quantum-safe networks. 10 00:00:20,520 --> 00:00:23,480 At Ciena, we offer high-capacity, high-speed 11 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:26,500 connectivity with our optical transport solutions, and 12 00:00:26,500 --> 00:00:30,160 when we combine that with AES-256-GCM encryption, 13 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:33,560 we're able to offer a very powerful Layer 1 encryption 14 00:00:33,560 --> 00:00:36,700 solution using our Waveserver family of products. 15 00:00:36,700 --> 00:00:40,860 Our solutions are FIPS-certified 140-3 Level 2 16 00:00:40,860 --> 00:00:43,320 as well as Common Criteria certified, which has 17 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:45,780 opened the door for us to implement and deploy our 18 00:00:45,780 --> 00:00:49,020 solution across different industries and different network 19 00:00:49,020 --> 00:00:51,860 applications all over the world. On top of that, 20 00:00:51,860 --> 00:00:54,440 we have implemented quantum-safe technologies like 21 00:00:54,440 --> 00:00:58,120 QKD and PQC to help our customers transform their 22 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:01,440 current classical networks into quantum-safe networks. 23 00:01:01,600 --> 00:01:04,520 Our encryption solution is designed to 24 00:01:04,520 --> 00:01:07,900 implement NIST-certified PQC algorithms. 25 00:01:07,900 --> 00:01:10,760 When customers deploy our encryption solution with 26 00:01:10,760 --> 00:01:14,600 PQC, they get quantum-safe encryption right out of 27 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:16,780 the box, meaning they don't have to go through an 28 00:01:16,780 --> 00:01:20,480 extra step or procedure to enable PQC. It's going to 29 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:23,040 be there by default. One key requirement that we 30 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:25,600 vendors need to be aware of when implementing PQC 31 00:01:25,600 --> 00:01:29,220 algorithms is that we need to become crypto agile. That 32 00:01:29,220 --> 00:01:31,940 means that we need to adapt quickly to new encryption 33 00:01:31,940 --> 00:01:35,560 protocols or algorithms without disrupting major 34 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:38,280 current operations or underlying infrastructure. 35 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:40,780 So, we have added that flexibility into 36 00:01:40,780 --> 00:01:42,980 our design so we can adapt quickly as 37 00:01:42,980 --> 00:01:45,720 more PQC algorithms will be standardized. 38 00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:48,500 On the right-hand side, you can see our Waveserver 39 00:01:48,500 --> 00:01:50,260 platform, where we're showcasing our 40 00:01:50,260 --> 00:01:52,540 next-generation WaveLogic encryption using 41 00:01:52,540 --> 00:01:56,000 WaveLogic 6e. This technology can do up to 1.6 42 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,200 terabits of encrypted capacity per wavelength. 43 00:01:58,220 --> 00:02:00,960 As you can see, this sled has two-line ports 44 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:03,660 based on WaveLogic 6e, meaning that this sled can 45 00:02:03,660 --> 00:02:06,520 do up to 3.2 terabits of encrypted capacity. 46 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:10,360 When we fulfill the Waveserver platform with up 47 00:02:10,360 --> 00:02:12,940 to four of those sleds, we can do up to 12.8 48 00:02:12,940 --> 00:02:15,980 terabits of encrypted capacity in a 2 RU platform. 49 00:02:16,340 --> 00:02:20,040 With QKD, we have implemented an external key mode 50 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:24,200 of operation based on the ETSI 014 QKD REST API. 51 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:28,120 This has allowed us to interop with other QKD vendors 52 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:31,240 that have also implemented the same API. We have been 53 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:33,800 able to successfully validate our solution with 54 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:37,960 multiple QKD vendors and participated in multiple variety 55 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:41,160 of projects, including commercial deployments, research 56 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:44,220 and education test beds, as well as different POCs 57 00:02:44,220 --> 00:02:47,760 with different customers. As QKD technology evolves, 58 00:02:47,920 --> 00:02:50,600 the acceleration of its adoption will depend on how 59 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:53,040 seamlessly it will integrate with existing optical 60 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:56,140 infrastructure, as well as with existing systems that 61 00:02:56,140 --> 00:02:59,100 serve these networks today. When we talk to different 62 00:02:59,100 --> 00:03:02,200 customers, the key requirements become for the quantum 63 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:05,780 channel to have a stable co-propagation with C-band 64 00:03:05,780 --> 00:03:09,020 traffic as well as L-band traffic. The quantum 65 00:03:09,020 --> 00:03:11,900 channel should have a high tolerance to network impairments. 66 00:03:11,900 --> 00:03:14,440 The system as a whole should have a proper 67 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:18,280 failover mechanism in the case of a fiber cut or a system 68 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,460 failure and, of course, be low cost and scalable. 69 00:03:21,560 --> 00:03:24,740 We continue to work with different QKD vendors that 70 00:03:24,740 --> 00:03:27,690 are advancing the technologies to meet these requirements 71 00:03:27,690 --> 00:03:30,180 and are open to continue to working with all their 72 00:03:30,180 --> 00:03:33,200 vendors that share the same goals. Fiber-based QKD 73 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:35,880 has a distance limitation due to the properties of 74 00:03:35,880 --> 00:03:38,640 quantum mechanics. This makes it suitable mostly for 75 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:41,240 single-span metro applications but that's just a 76 00:03:41,240 --> 00:03:43,860 small piece of the global connectivity infrastructure. 77 00:03:44,260 --> 00:03:47,100 Most data travels across city, regions, 78 00:03:47,100 --> 00:03:48,740 countries. Most of the internet 79 00:03:48,740 --> 00:03:51,420 traffic travels across submarine cables. 80 00:03:51,800 --> 00:03:54,880 Hyperscalers link their data centers between different 81 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:57,220 countries and continents to distribute the AI 82 00:03:57,220 --> 00:04:00,620 workload, so it is essential for us to bring QKD 83 00:04:00,620 --> 00:04:03,500 technology to these type of networks. Although there 84 00:04:03,500 --> 00:04:06,880 is research ongoing about quantum repeaters, which 85 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:09,860 is a technology that is looking at extending that 86 00:04:09,860 --> 00:04:12,520 distance limitation from a terrestrial perspective, 87 00:04:12,700 --> 00:04:14,760 the practical deployment of these 88 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:16,800 technologies is still a few years away. 89 00:04:17,060 --> 00:04:20,600 Satellite-based QKD uses free space optical links 90 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:23,880 between the ground stations and orbiting satellites to 91 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:27,400 securely create and distribute quantum secure keys. 92 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,290 These ground stations can be separated by thousands 93 00:04:30,290 --> 00:04:33,250 of kilometers, but once they share a secret key, we 94 00:04:33,250 --> 00:04:36,000 can use that key to encrypt the data that is going to 95 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:39,500 travel across the terrestrial optical infrastructure. 96 00:04:40,500 --> 00:04:44,000 By bridging space QKD with the terrestrial 97 00:04:44,000 --> 00:04:46,000 optical infrastructure, we're getting a 98 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:47,940 step closer into our end goal of having 99 00:04:47,940 --> 00:04:50,520 end-to-end quantum-secure data transport. 100 00:04:50,580 --> 00:04:53,400 This is why we have been part of the Quantum Encryption 101 00:04:53,400 --> 00:04:57,060 Science and Satellite project since 2023. This is a 102 00:04:57,060 --> 00:05:00,080 Canadian Space Agency project that is run by the 103 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:03,240 Institute for Quantum Computing in the University of Waterloo, 104 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:06,000 whose mission is to help Canada to build a 105 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,820 quantum-secure communication infrastructure. We're very proud 106 00:05:09,820 --> 00:05:12,200 to be part of this project, whose goal is to demonstrate 107 00:05:12,200 --> 00:05:16,000 QKD from space. It will aim to establish an 108 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:20,860 optical-free link between the ground stations and the orbiting 109 00:05:20,860 --> 00:05:24,440 satellites, where the satellite will act as a secure 110 00:05:24,440 --> 00:05:27,880 relay node. It will act as an intermediary between 111 00:05:27,880 --> 00:05:30,580 the ground stations to allow them to exchange the keys. 112 00:05:30,890 --> 00:05:34,560 Our role as being part of this project is to take 113 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:37,000 those keys and use them to encrypt the data that 114 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:39,640 is going to transverse the optical fiber infrastructure 115 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:41,820 already in place between the ground stations. 116 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:45,980 There are valuable insights from this project. From 117 00:05:45,980 --> 00:05:48,840 Ciena, we want to understand the commercial viability 118 00:05:48,840 --> 00:05:51,800 and technical feasibility of these type of projects in 119 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:54,640 real use case scenarios. Our first priority, of course, 120 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:58,000 is multi-span network applications or long-haul 121 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,000 networks that form the backbone connectivity of all traffic. 122 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,560 And if we can get one step ahead, can we look into 123 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:08,040 data that travels through transoceanic submarine 124 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:11,060 cables, and the reason for that is even if quantum repeaters 125 00:06:11,060 --> 00:06:13,520 were to be deployable in the future, the current 126 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:15,720 infrastructure of these submarine cables does not allow 127 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:18,480 for a quantum repeater to be put in there, and so 128 00:06:18,480 --> 00:06:21,800 satellite-based QKD could be a solution in this case. 129 00:06:22,060 --> 00:06:24,260 And finally we can look at a constellation 130 00:06:24,260 --> 00:06:26,900 of satellite-based QKDs that can provide 131 00:06:26,900 --> 00:06:29,620 continuous global quantum-secure coverage. 132 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:33,320 It's very exciting to see how the industry has come 133 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:36,320 together to provide quantum-safe solutions to the 134 00:06:36,320 --> 00:06:39,340 current networks that we have today. At Ciena, we're very 135 00:06:39,340 --> 00:06:41,980 excited about being at the forefront of this innovation 136 00:06:41,980 --> 00:06:45,200 by bringing the industry-first 1.6 terabit 137 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:49,680 quantum-safe encryption solution to the market. Thank you.