Physical Layer Encryption for WDM Optical Communication Systems Using Private Chaotic Phase Scrambling

Protecting the security of optical network is a major worldwide challenge. The conventional schemes for securing communications are based on cryptography at the MAC layer and its higher layers, which are facing a great threat with the development of quantum computers. Optical encryption is a promisi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of lightwave technology 2021-04, Vol.39 (8), p.2288-2295
Main Authors: Zhao, Anke, Jiang, Ning, Liu, Shiqin, Zhang, Yiqun, Qiu, Kun
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chaos synchronization
Communications systems
Communications traffic
Computer networks
Cryptography
Data encryption
Encryption
Fiber optics
High-speed optical techniques
Network latency
Optical communication
optical encryption
optical fiber communication
Optical fiber networks
Optical fibers
Optical receivers
physical layer security
Quantum computers
Scrambling (communication)
Security
Traffic speed
Wave division multiplexing
Wavelength division multiplexing
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Summary:Protecting the security of optical network is a major worldwide challenge. The conventional schemes for securing communications are based on cryptography at the MAC layer and its higher layers, which are facing a great threat with the development of quantum computers. Optical encryption is a promising way for building security on the physical layer of optical communications. In this work, we propose a novel optical encryption scheme for wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) fiber-optic communication systems, by utilizing the private chaotic phase scrambling. Secure transmission of 50 Gbps signal over 50-km standard single-mode fiber is experimentally and numerically demonstrated. The results show that the WDM signal is efficiently encrypted into a noise-like signal, due to the spectral broadening effect of chaotic phase scrambling. Since the processes of encryption and decryption are totally implemented in the optical domain, the proposed scheme can encrypt the entire network traffic with low latency and high speed. Moreover, the proposed encryption scheme is compatible with the existing WDM optical networks, and only one pair of encryption and decryption devices is sufficient to encrypt all WDM channels, thus the scheme can be easily implemented at low hardware cost.
ISSN:0733-8724
1558-2213
DOI:10.1109/JLT.2021.3051407