Integration of Quantum Key Distribution and Classical Communications Over Field-Deployed Uncoupled-Core Four-Core Fiber
Qi Wu, Domenico Ribezzo, Giammarco Di Sciullo, Divya Ann Shaji, Tetsuya Hayashi, Ruben Soares Luis, Davide Bacco, Yixiao Zhu, Weisheng Hu, Antonio Mecozzi, Cristian Antonelli · 2024
We investigate the integration of quantum key distribution (QKD) into classical optical communication links based on a field-deployed uncoupled-core four-core fiber. We experimentally characterize inter-core spontaneous Raman scattering (IC-SpRS) and evaluate the impact of IC-SpRS and dark counts on QKD performance as the classical traffic load is varied when three cores are used for classical WDM transmission and one for QKD.