Symmetric blind information reconciliation for quantum key distribution

TL;DR

This paper improves the efficiency and reduces the interactivity of blind information reconciliation in quantum key distribution by introducing symmetry and utilizing unsuccessful decoding results.

Contribution

It proposes a novel symmetric protocol that enhances the existing blind reconciliation method based on LDPC codes for QKD.

Findings

Significant increase in reconciliation efficiency.

Reduction in protocol interactivity.

Improved performance over previous methods.

Abstract

Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a quantum-proof key-exchange scheme which is fast approaching the communication industry. An essential component in QKD is the information reconciliation step, which is used for correcting the quantum-channel noise errors. The recently suggested blind reconciliation technique, based on low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes, offers remarkable prospectives for efficient information reconciliation without an a priori error rate estimation. We suggest an improvement of the blind-information-reconciliation protocol promoting a significant increase in the efficiency of the procedure and reducing its interactivity. The proposed technique is based on introducing symmetry in operations of parties, and the consideration of results of unsuccessful belief-propagation decodings.