5G Network Slicing with QKD and Quantum-Safe Security

TL;DR

This paper extends 5G network slicing to incorporate quantum-safe security, demonstrating automated slice provisioning with various encryption methods including QKD, and achieving rapid setup times.

Contribution

It introduces a modified SDN orchestrator capable of provisioning 5G slices with quantum-safe encryption, enhancing security and automation in network management.

Findings

Automated slice setup takes 1-2 minutes, much faster than manual methods.

Demonstrates integration of QKD and quantum-resistant algorithms in 5G slices.

Shows feasibility of dynamic, secure, and rapid network slicing for diverse use-cases.

Abstract

We demonstrate how the 5G network slicing model can be extended to address data security requirements. In this work we demonstrate two different slice configurations, with different encryption requirements, representing two diverse use-cases for 5G networking: namely, an enterprise application hosted at a metro network site, and a content delivery network. We create a modified software-defined networking (SDN) orchestrator which calculates and provisions network slices according to the requirements, including encryption backed by quantum key distribution (QKD), or other methods. Slices are automatically provisioned by SDN orchestration of network resources, allowing selection of encrypted links as appropriate, including those which use standard Diffie-Hellman key exchange, QKD and quantum-resistant algorithms (QRAs), as well as no encryption at all. We show that the set-up and tear-down times of the network slices takes of the order of 1-2 minutes, which is an order of magnitude improvement over manually provisioning a link today.