Network Design in Multiple Non-Overlapping Paths within Quantum Key Distribution Networks
Year: 2026
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: The increasing demand for secure communication makes quantum key distribution (QKD) a compelling technology, as it exploits the fundamental principles of quantum physics to enhance secure data transmission. However, practical deployment faces limitations such as limited transmission distances and dedicated hardware-channel requirements. This paper proposes a linear programming-based model that jointly addresses routing, wavelength assignment, and trusted-node minimization in QKD networks with wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), considering that the secret key rate becomes impractical beyond a given transmission distance, thus requiring the relaying of secret keys through trusted repeaters. In particular, the study contrasts scenarios where traffic is concentrated along a single route with those where key rates are split and routed over multiple nonoverlapping paths (MNOPs) using two mechanisms: Concatenate Multipart (CM) and Bitwise Product Multipath (BPM). While the literature shows that MNOPs can improve security (BPM) and improve the secret key rate (CM), we demonstrate that these mechanisms come with additional deployment costs.
Institutions: Universidade Federal da Bahia, Instituto de Telecomunicações
Language: English
Subfield: Artificial Intelligence
Field: Computer Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7215070645