Quantum random number generation from the continuous variable payload for the SPOQC mission

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a continuous-variable quantum random number generator using the SPOQC satellite payload, extracting certified randomness from homodyne measurements of vacuum states suitable for cryptographic applications.

Contribution

It introduces a CV-QRNG method utilizing satellite payload components, quantifies secure randomness, and tests its quality with standard randomness tests.

Findings

Approximately 19.5 Kb of certified random numbers obtained from 1 Mb raw data.

Homodyne measurement of vacuum states effectively generates secure randomness.

The method is compatible with satellite payloads and uplink scenarios.

Abstract

The necessity of random numbers for various tasks, from simulation to cryptography, is crucial and immense. Here we demonstrate CV-QRNG using the CV payload of the SPOQC mission. The homodyne setup for QRNG uses the laser from the payload, in addition to potentially being used as detector in the case of an uplink scenario. Here we quantify the extractable secure randomness from the QRNG setup, that involves homodyne measurement of the vacuum states. The extracted randomness is tested against NIST test suite in addition to formally upper bounding the min-entropy. With the raw key length being $\approx1$ Mb in a given satellite pass, we get a total length of $\approx19.5$ Kb of certified random numbers from the 12-bit ADC.