US 12,244,698 B2
Quantum channel synchronization
Martyn Braithwaite, Bristol (GB)
Assigned to ID QUANTIQUE SA, Carouge (CH)
Appl. No. 17/620,397
Filed by ID Quantique SA, Carouge (CH)
PCT Filed May 28, 2020, PCT No. PCT/EP2020/064887
§ 371(c)(1), (2) Date Dec. 17, 2021,
PCT Pub. No. WO2020/254087, PCT Pub. Date Dec. 24, 2020.
Claims priority of application No. 19181005 (EP), filed on Jun. 18, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2022/0345301 A1, Oct. 27, 2022
Int. Cl. H04L 9/08 (2006.01); G06F 1/12 (2006.01); G06N 10/60 (2022.01); H04B 10/70 (2013.01)
CPC H04L 9/0852 (2013.01) [G06F 1/12 (2013.01); G06N 10/60 (2022.01); H04B 10/70 (2013.01); H04L 9/0819 (2013.01); H04L 9/085 (2013.01)] 10 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A quantum key distribution method for distributing a secret key over a quantum communication channel between a transmitter and a receiver, the method comprising the steps of:
synchronizing a clock between the transmitter and the receiver, wherein the clock is a digital value, binary encoded on a plurality of bits from a least significant bit to a most significant bit,
distributing the secret key from the transmitter to the receiver, wherein the synchronizing step comprises:
a first transmitting step for transmitting a N-th bit of the clock from the transmitter to the receiver,
a second transmitting step for transmitting acknowledgement of reception of the N-th bit from the receiver to the transmitter,
a first checking step for checking if the N-th bit is the most significant bit of the clock, and
an incrementing step for incrementing the value of N if the first checking step indicates that the N-th bit is not the most significant bit of the clock.