In China, Quantum Communications Comes of Age
Physicists Aiming for Tough-to-Hack, Lightning-Fast Network for Military and Official Use
02.09.15
Wang Zhao
This may be a quantum leap year for an initiative that accelerates data transfers close to the speed of light with no hacking threats through so-called quantum communications technology.
Within months, China plans to open the world’s longest quantum communications network, a 2,000 kilometer electronic highway linking government offices in the cities of Beijing and Shanghai.
Meanwhile, the country’s space scientists are preparing a communications satellite for a 2016 launch that would be a first step toward building a quantum communications network in the sky. It is hoped this and other satellites can be used to overcome technical hurdles, such as distance restrictions, facing land-based systems.
Physicists around the world have spent years working on quantum communications technology. But if all goes as planned, China would be the first country to put a quantum communications satellite in orbit, said Wang Jianyu, Deputy Director of the China Academy of Science’s (CAS) Shanghai branch.
At a recent conference on quantum science in Shanghai, Wang said scientists from CAS and other institutions have completed major research and development tasks for launching the satellite equipped with quantum communications gear.
The satellite program’s basis for success was confirmed by China’s leading quantum communications scientist, Pan Jianwei, a CAS academic who is also a professor of quantum physics at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Hefei, in the eastern province of Anhui. Pan said researchers reported significant progress on systems development after conducting experiments at a test center in Qinghai province, in the northwest.
The satellite would be used to transmit encoded data through a method called quantum key distribution (QKD), which relies on cryptographic keys transmitted via light-pulse signals. QKD is said to be nearly impossible to hack, since any attempted eavesdropping would change the quantum states and thus could be quickly detected by data flow monitors.
A satellite-based quantum communications system could be used to build a secure information bridge between the nation’s capital and Urumqi, the capital of the restive Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the west, Pan said.
It’s likely the technology initially will be used to transmit sensitive diplomatic, government policy, and military information. Future applications could include secure transmissions of personal and financial data.
Plans call for China to put additional satellites into orbit after next year’s groundbreaking launch, Pan said, without divulging how many satellites might be deployed or when. He did say that China hopes to complete a QKD system linking Asia and Europe by 2020, and have a worldwide quantum communications network in place by 2030.
Success Stories
In 2009, China became the first country in the world to put quantum communications technology to work outside of a laboratory.
In October of that year, a team of scientists led by Pan built a secure network for exchanging information among government officials during a military parade in Beijing celebrating the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic. The demonstration underscored the research project’s key military application.
“China is completely capable of making full use of quantum communications in a regional war,” Pan said. “The direction of development in the future calls for using relay satellites to realize quantum communications and control that covers the entire army.”
The country is also working to configure the new technology for civilian use.
A pilot quantum communications network that took 18 months to build was completed in February 2012 in Hefei. The network, which cost the city’s government 60 million yuan, was designed by Pan’s team to link 40 telephones and 16 video cameras installed at city government agencies, military units, financial institutions, and health care offices.
A similar, civilian-focused network built by Pan’s team in Jinan, the provincial capital of the eastern province of Shandong, started operating in March 2014. It connects some 90 users, most of whom tap the network for general business and information.
In late 2012, Pan’s team installed a quantum communications network that was used to securely connect the Beijing venue hosting a week-long meeting of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party, with hotel rooms where delegates stayed, as well as the Zhongnanhai compound in Beijing where the nation’s top leaders live and work.
Next on the development agenda is opening the network linking Beijing and Shanghai. Pan is leading that project as well.
If all goes as planned, Pan said, existing networks in Hefei and Jinan eventually would be tied to the Beijing-Shanghai channel to provide secure communications connecting government and financial agencies in each of the four regions. The new network could be operating as early as 2016.
More @ In China, Quantum Communications Comes of Age | ChinaFile
Physicists Aiming for Tough-to-Hack, Lightning-Fast Network for Military and Official Use
02.09.15
Wang Zhao
This may be a quantum leap year for an initiative that accelerates data transfers close to the speed of light with no hacking threats through so-called quantum communications technology.
Within months, China plans to open the world’s longest quantum communications network, a 2,000 kilometer electronic highway linking government offices in the cities of Beijing and Shanghai.
Meanwhile, the country’s space scientists are preparing a communications satellite for a 2016 launch that would be a first step toward building a quantum communications network in the sky. It is hoped this and other satellites can be used to overcome technical hurdles, such as distance restrictions, facing land-based systems.
Physicists around the world have spent years working on quantum communications technology. But if all goes as planned, China would be the first country to put a quantum communications satellite in orbit, said Wang Jianyu, Deputy Director of the China Academy of Science’s (CAS) Shanghai branch.
At a recent conference on quantum science in Shanghai, Wang said scientists from CAS and other institutions have completed major research and development tasks for launching the satellite equipped with quantum communications gear.
The satellite program’s basis for success was confirmed by China’s leading quantum communications scientist, Pan Jianwei, a CAS academic who is also a professor of quantum physics at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Hefei, in the eastern province of Anhui. Pan said researchers reported significant progress on systems development after conducting experiments at a test center in Qinghai province, in the northwest.
The satellite would be used to transmit encoded data through a method called quantum key distribution (QKD), which relies on cryptographic keys transmitted via light-pulse signals. QKD is said to be nearly impossible to hack, since any attempted eavesdropping would change the quantum states and thus could be quickly detected by data flow monitors.
A satellite-based quantum communications system could be used to build a secure information bridge between the nation’s capital and Urumqi, the capital of the restive Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in the west, Pan said.
It’s likely the technology initially will be used to transmit sensitive diplomatic, government policy, and military information. Future applications could include secure transmissions of personal and financial data.
Plans call for China to put additional satellites into orbit after next year’s groundbreaking launch, Pan said, without divulging how many satellites might be deployed or when. He did say that China hopes to complete a QKD system linking Asia and Europe by 2020, and have a worldwide quantum communications network in place by 2030.
Success Stories
In 2009, China became the first country in the world to put quantum communications technology to work outside of a laboratory.
In October of that year, a team of scientists led by Pan built a secure network for exchanging information among government officials during a military parade in Beijing celebrating the 60th anniversary of the People’s Republic. The demonstration underscored the research project’s key military application.
“China is completely capable of making full use of quantum communications in a regional war,” Pan said. “The direction of development in the future calls for using relay satellites to realize quantum communications and control that covers the entire army.”
The country is also working to configure the new technology for civilian use.
A pilot quantum communications network that took 18 months to build was completed in February 2012 in Hefei. The network, which cost the city’s government 60 million yuan, was designed by Pan’s team to link 40 telephones and 16 video cameras installed at city government agencies, military units, financial institutions, and health care offices.
A similar, civilian-focused network built by Pan’s team in Jinan, the provincial capital of the eastern province of Shandong, started operating in March 2014. It connects some 90 users, most of whom tap the network for general business and information.
In late 2012, Pan’s team installed a quantum communications network that was used to securely connect the Beijing venue hosting a week-long meeting of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party, with hotel rooms where delegates stayed, as well as the Zhongnanhai compound in Beijing where the nation’s top leaders live and work.
Next on the development agenda is opening the network linking Beijing and Shanghai. Pan is leading that project as well.
If all goes as planned, Pan said, existing networks in Hefei and Jinan eventually would be tied to the Beijing-Shanghai channel to provide secure communications connecting government and financial agencies in each of the four regions. The new network could be operating as early as 2016.
More @ In China, Quantum Communications Comes of Age | ChinaFile
