Patent ID: 7512242
Filing Date: 2009-03-31
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method of transporting a random block of bits in a quantum cryptographic key distribution (QKD) network, comprising: sharing blocks of bits between nodes in a QKD network using quantum cryptographic mechanisms; determining a key transport path between a source node and a destination node in the QKD network, wherein the key transport path comprises one or more intermediate nodes; at each intermediate node of the one or more intermediate nodes, logically combining a block of secret bits shared with a previous hop along the path with a block of secret bits shared with a next hop along the path to produce first combined blocks of bits; at the destination node, logically combining a block of secret bits shared with a previous hop along the path with a random block of bits to produce a second combined block of bits; receiving the first combined blocks of bits and the second combined block of bits at the source node; and logically combining, at the source node, the first combined blocks of bits and the second combined block of bits to determine the random block of bits.