Selective Placement of Hollow-Core Fibers for QKD and Classical Communication Coexistence

TL;DR

This paper explores how upgrading a portion of optical network links to hollow-core fibers can significantly enhance quantum and classical communication coexistence, reducing quantum module requirements.

Contribution

It demonstrates that partial upgrades to hollow-core fibers in metro networks can optimize quantum-classical coexistence with substantial resource savings.

Findings

Upgrading 40% of links reduces quantum modules by up to 49%.

Partial fiber upgrades improve coexistence efficiency.

Hollow-core fibers offer notable benefits for integrated quantum-classical networks.

Abstract

We investigate the benefits of partially upgrading optical networks with hollow-core fibers for QKD-classical communication coexistence. Results show that upgrading 40% of links in a metro topology can reduce the number of quantum modules by up to 49%.