Patent ID: 10225081

Abstract:
For secure wireless communications the sender device uses a rail encoder that outputs dual rail-encoded states of light in a time slot. The states of light dual rail-encode information according to a phase and/or intensity difference between the dual rails, and the rail-encoded states of light may further be converted to a polarization-encoded state. This may be implemented using at least two polarizing beam-splitters with at least one quarter-wave plate disposed therebetween; and/or with integrated waveguides that convert three optical inputs to two optical outputs that are input to a polarization rotator-combiner. The encoder may randomly define the polarization-encoded state such as by randomly selecting from a finite number of at least N=3 possible polarization rotations. The recipient device may use 2N parallel channels to decode the dual rail-encoded states of light, each channel comprising a detector configured to detect one of N possible polarization states.