US 12,088,704 B1
Systems and methods for quantum entangled random key exchange
Jeff J. Stapleton, O'Fallon, MO (US)
Assigned to Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., San Francisco, CA (US)
Filed by Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., San Francisco, CA (US)
Filed on Mar. 30, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/657,274.
Int. Cl. H04L 9/00 (2022.01); H04L 9/08 (2006.01)
CPC H04L 9/0852 (2013.01) [H04L 9/0869 (2013.01); H04L 9/0877 (2013.01)] 17 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A method for secure key exchange, the method comprising:
deriving, by key derivation circuitry of a first device, a first key using at least a first random bit set distributed to a first pair of devices including the first device and a second device, the second device having also derived the first key using the first random bit set;
deriving, by the key derivation circuitry of the first device, a second key using at least a second random bit set distributed to a second pair of devices including the first device and a third device, the third device having also derived the second key using the second random bit set;
receiving, by communications hardware of the first device, a message from the second device, wherein the message received from the second device is encrypted using the first key derived by the first device and the second device, and wherein the message contains a common key derived based at least on a third random bit set known to the first device and the second device;
decrypting, by data protection circuitry of the first device, the message using the first key derived by the first device and the second device to produce a decrypted message;
encrypting, by the data protection circuitry of the first device, the decrypted message using the second key derived by the first device and the third device; and
causing transmission, by the communications hardware of the first device, of the encrypted message containing the common key to the third device, the third device being enabled to decrypt the encrypted message using the second key derived by the first device and the third device to obtain the common key and securely communicate with the first device and the second device, wherein each pair of devices respectively derive a key by using a random bit set known only to each device in the respective pair.