Satellite continuous-variable quantum key distribution systems using code-division multiple access

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a novel architecture of the satellite continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD) system that can not only support multiple users but also enhance the security. The satellite CV-QKD system is based on a code-division multiple access (CDMA) technique to simultaneously transmit multiple key streams from a trusted satellite to a ground station, which passively forwards these key streams to multiple users nearby via optical fibers. Our proposed architecture avoids using multiple ground stations that result in high costs. We analyze the performance of the proposed system under the negative impacts of atmospheric attenuation and atmospheric turbulence, as well as beam spreading and pointing error loss. Especially, the impact of multiple user interference is also considered in our analysis. The numerical results show that the proposed QKD system using CDMA can support multiple users, whose performance metrics such as quantum bit-error rate (QBER), sifted probability, and secret key rate meet the designed targets. The eavesdroppers suffer high QBER and low sifted probability, thus the security is guaranteed.