Coexistence of SDN Management Protocols in QKD Networks
Rubén B. Méndez, Jesús Ballesta, Ramon Querol, Carmen Escribano, Pedro J. Salas, Antonio Pastor, Diego R. Lopez, Vicente Martín, Juan P. Brito · 2025
Quantum Key Distribution is emerging as a promising technology to strength the robustness of the current communications. Quantum Computing offers different advantages that the society could use in the future, high computation capabilities, simulation environments that take into account a big quantity of variables, nevertheless, this high computational capabilities introduce threads that the society must be protected also. In this sense, the high computation capabilities can break the security of the current communications in a reasonable amount of time. To avoid this, QKD vendors and Telecommunication operators are investing resources in push Quantum Communications technology into the society. This paper presents how the QKD technology can be use according to well-known protocols and interfaces following the traditional SDN approach. Presenting the interoperability across the three prominent network management protocols: NETCONF, RESTCONF and gNMI/gRPC, enabling efficient orchestration and control while maintaining vendor and protocol independence. Facilitating robust network designs capable of supporting the diverse requirements of modern quantum secure communication infrastructures.