Abstract
The potentials for and limitations to the use of intensity fluctuations of laser beams propagating through a turbulent atmosphere for generating random data when keying in confidential optical communication systems are analyzed. The technique is based on the reciprocity theorem for optical fields. Light propagation in a system of two transceivers directed at each other, the signals from which are distorted by an atmospheric channel, is numerically simulated. An experimental setup is created; the generation of random correlated signals in this system is experimentally studied. A need for low-pass filtration of signals received is experimentally ascertained. The efficiency of this filtration is estimated. The dependences of the correlation coefficient on the geometrical parameters of the system and turbulent conditions along the propagation path are derived from the numerical simulation in a wide range of distances, aperture radii, and turbulence strength values. Theoretical results are shown to be in a good agreement with the results of laboratory experiments.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
H. Furst, H. Weier, S. Nauerth, D. G. Marangon, C. Kurtsiefer, and H. Weinfurter, “High speed optical quantum random number generation,” Opt. Express 18 (12), 13 029–13 037 (2010).
M. Fiorentino, C. Santori, S. M. Spillane, R. G. Beausoleil, and W. J. Munro, “Secure self-calibrating quantum random-bit generator,” Phys. Rev. 75 (3) (2007).
C. Gabriel, C. Wittmann, D. Sych, R. Dong, W. Mauerer, U. L. Andersen, C. Marquardt, and G. Leuchs, “A generator for unique quantum random numbers based on vacuum states,” Nat. Photon 4 (10), 711–715 (2010).
C. H. Bennett and G. Brassard, “Quantum cryptography: Public key distribution and coin tossing,” Theor. Comput. Sci. 560 (1), 7–11 (2014).
V. V. Sidorov, A. V. Karpov, and A. I. Sulimov, ““Meteor generation of secret encryption keysfor protection of open communication channels,” Inform. Tekhnol. Vychislitel’nye Sist., No. 3, 45–54 (2008).
A. I. Sulimov, A. A. Galiev, A. V. Karpov, and V. V. Markelov, “Verification of wireless key generation using software defined radio,” in Proc. Intern. Siberian Conf. on Control and Commun. (SIBCON). Tomsk, Russia (2019), p. 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1109/SIBCON.2019.8729607
A. I. Sulimov and A. V. Karpov, “Performance evaluation of meteor key distribution,” in Proc. the 12th Intern. Conf. on Security and Cryptography (SECRYPT-2015), Colmar, France (2015), p. 392–397.
S. N. Premnath, S. Jana, J. Croft, P. L. Gowda, M. Clark, S. K. Kasera, N. Patwari, and S. V. Krishnamurthy, “Secret key extraction from wireless signal strength in real environments,” IEEE Trans. Mobile Comput. 12 (5), 917–930 (2013).
J. W. Wallace and R. K. Sharma, “Automatic secret keys from reciprocal MIMO wireless channels: Measurement and Analysis,” IEEE Trans. Inf. Forensics Security 5 (3), 381–392 (2010).
J. Minet, M. A. Vorontsov, E. Polnau, and D. Dolfi, “Enhanced correlation of received power-signal fluctuations in bidirectional optical links,” J. Opt. 15 (2), 022401 (2013).
M. D. Drake, C. F. Bas, D. R. Gervais, P. F. Renda, D. Townsend, J. J. Rushanan, J. Francoeur, N. C. Donnangelo, and M. D. Stenner, “Optical key distribution system using atmospheric turbulence as the randomness generating function: Classical optical protocol for information assurance,” Opt. Eng. 52 (5), 055008 (2013).
N. Wang, X. Song, J. Cheng, and V. C. Leung, “Enhancing the security of free-space optical communications with secret sharing and key agreement,” J. Opt. Commun. Netw. 6 (12), 1072–1081 (2014).
J. H. Shapiro and A. L. Puryear, “Reciprocity-enhanced optical communication through atmospheric turbulence—Part I: Reciprocity proofs and far-field power transfer optimization,” J. Opt. Commun. Netw. 4 (12), 947–954 (2012).
N. Bornman, A. Forbes, and A. Kempf, “Random number generation & distribution out of thin (or thick) air,” J. Opt. 22 (7), 075705 (2020).
Funding
The work was financially supported by the Russian Science Foundation in the part of theoretical and experimental studies of the possibilities of using the reciprocity principle for optical communication lines in a turbulent medium (project no. 18-19-00437) and by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research in the part of the study of statistics of beam energy parameters (project no. 18-29-20 115\18). The numerical simulation techniques and algorithms for laser beam propagation in the atmosphere were developed within program of fundamental research of the Russian Academy of Sciences no. AAAA-A17-117021310143-2.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Ethics declarations
The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.
Additional information
Translated by O. Ponomareva
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Aksenov, V.P., Dudorov, V.V., Kolosov, V.V. et al. The Analysis of Intensity Correlation in Laser Transceiving Systems for Formation of a Cryptographic Key. Atmos Ocean Opt 33, 571–577 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1134/S1024856020060032
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S1024856020060032