|[September 03, 2014]
Toshiba Achieves World's Highest Rate for Quantum Encryption Key Data Distribution
TOKYO --(Business Wire)--
Toshiba (News - Alert) Corporation (TOKYO:6502), today announced that it has achieved
the world's highest speed operation of a quantum encryption system with
a new quantum key distribution device installed and tested in Tokyo.
The system was tested over a 45km optical fiber running between Otemachi
in central Tokyo and Koganei in the city's western suburbs. Testing was
carried out in collaboration with Japan's National Institute of
Information and Communications Technology (NICT) over a 34-day period.
Testing was continuous, and the installed system achieved world records
for total amount of secure key data transmitted, 878 gigabits (Gbit),
and average transmission speed, 25.8Gbit a day, while remaining stable
and completely autonomous.
Quantum (News - Alert) encryption is the new frontier in data encryption technology,
providing a previously impossible level of security for the transmission
of information through a network. It is made possible by exploiting the
quantum nature of single photons, the elementary particles of light,
which allows them to detect eavesdropping and guarantee security, a
cryptographic technology known as quantum key distribution.
Toshiba Corporation has developed the world's highest speed quantum key
distribution device in the laboratory, and is using optical fiber lines
installed in cities to verify the technology's ability to provide long
term, stable operation. The realization of quantum communication - the
detection of single photons of light after long distance transmission
through optical fibers - requires the development of ctting-edge
technologies to overcome a number of technical challenges, including
suppression of noise and highly accurate equipment alignment and
Toshiba's efforts to meet and overcome these technical challenges have
positioned the company at the forefront of development of automatic
stabilization systems and integrated electronics for quantum encryption.
The fruits of the company's work can be seen in 34 days of confirmed,
continuous unattended operation of the system installed on NICT's JGN-X
experimental optical fiber network running between Otemachi and Koganei
in Tokyo (45 km, 14.5 dB loss). Moreover, this 34-day period does not
define the limit of operation-the system was still operating smoothly at
the end of the test period, and there is no reason to believe operation
for much longer periods would not be possible.
The daily average amount of secure key data distributed during the test
period was 25.8Gbit (a total of 878Gbit secure key data in 34 days),
with an average transmission speed of 300 kbps. This sets new records
for both total secure key data distributed and for rates per second and
day for any installed system.
We will continue performing verifications for still further long-term
stable operation and increased encryption key distribution rates. We
also intend to apply our quantum encryption key distribution device to a
variety of applications to verify practical usability.
This breakthrough performance will be announced at the QCrypt 2014
conference, to be held on September 1 - 5 in Paris, France.
Note: Part of this research was commissioned by NICT as part of its
Research and Development of Secure Photonic Network Technologies project.
Toshiba Corporation, a Fortune Global 500
company, channels world-class capabilities in advanced electronic and
electrical product and systems into five strategic business domains:
Energy & Infrastructure, Community Solutions, Healthcare Systems &
Services, Electronic Devices & Components, and Lifestyles Products &
Services. Guided by the principles of The Basic Commitment of the
Toshiba Group, "Committed to People, Committed to the Future", Toshiba
promotes global operations towards securing "Growth Through Creativity
and Innovation", and is contributing to the achievement of a world in
which people everywhere live in safe, secure and comfortable society.
Founded in Tokyo in 1875, today's Toshiba is at the heart of a global
network of over 590 consolidated companies employing over 200,000 people
worldwide, with annual sales surpassing 6.5 trillion yen (US$63 billion).
find out more about Toshiba, visit www.toshiba.co.jp/index.htm
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