US 11,791,994 B1
Quantum cryptography in an internet key exchange procedure
Ranjan Sinha, Bangalore (IN); Priyabrata Saha, Kolkata (IN); and Aswin Surendran, Ernakulam (IN)
Assigned to Juniper Networks, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US)
Filed by Juniper Networks, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US)
Filed on Mar. 31, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/710,100.
Int. Cl. H04L 29/06 (2006.01); H04L 9/08 (2006.01); H04L 9/40 (2022.01)
CPC H04L 9/0852 (2013.01) [H04L 9/083 (2013.01); H04L 63/06 (2013.01)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method, comprising:
transmitting, by a first network device and to a second network device, an internet key exchange (IKE) initiation request message, wherein the IKE initiation request message indicates that a post-quantum preshared key (PPK) is to be used as a shared key for an IKE procedure, and wherein the IKE initiation request message indicates a first identifier associated with the first network device;
receiving, by the first network device and from the second network device, an IKE initiation response message, wherein the IKE initiation response message indicates that the PPK is supported as the shared key for the IKE procedure by the second network device, and wherein the IKE initiation response message indicates a second identifier associated with the second network device;
transmitting, by the first network device and to a key management entity (KME) associated with the first network device, a request for a quantum key, wherein the request for the quantum key indicates the second identifier associated with the second network device, and wherein the PPK is based on the quantum key;
receiving, by the first network device and from the KME, an indication of the quantum key and a third identifier associated with the quantum key;
transmitting, by the first network device and to the second network device, an IKE authentication request message, wherein the IKE authentication request message indicates that the third identifier associated with the quantum key is associated with the PPK; and
receiving, by the first network device and from the second network device, an IKE authentication response message, wherein the IKE authentication response message indicates that the PPK has been successfully obtained by the second network device.