Quantum Information Group, System Field Trials
During late 2004, Toshiba carried out comprehensive tests of their Quantum Key Server with the global telecom provider MCI. The trials were conducted on a 20.5 km loop of industry standard fibre in the MCI IP network on the Cambridge Science Park. They demonstrated that the system could operate continuously for periods as long as four weeks without the need for any user intervention. The secure bit rate remained stable during the entire duration of the trial.
Typical results collected over a 19-hour period showed that the system distributed key material for 99.6% of the time on average. It is worth noting, however, that even during the remaining 0.4% there is no interruption in key delivery, as the key material is buffered within the key server. By placing the equipment in an air-conditioned room, the duty cycle is seen to increase even further, approaching values as high as 100%.
During April 2005 the system was demonstrated to an audience of financial institutions and government representatives at the Department of Trade and Industry. In order to highlight that the system can provide a continuous stream of key material, the system was used to establish a secure link for voice and video over IP. The quantum video link enhances the security of communication systems by encrypting each frame with a unique 256-bit digital key. Each key produced by the Quantum Key Server is completely random and shares no correlation with the other keys.
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