QKD variations

Now, in the last two lessons we looked at a wide range of quantum key distribution protocols. Now let's look at some general variations, not specific protocols, but particular variations in quantum key distribution. This is one that was touched on briefly with the previous protocol, the idea is device independent quantum key distribution. If you think about it right now, your classical networking doesn't really need very specific equipment to work. In other words, you might be using a router or switch that's made by Juniper or Huawei or Cisco, and it doesn't matter to you being able to send an e-mail or watch a video on YouTube. Well, many quantum key distribution protocols require very specific equipment, so it's really important if we're going to really scale this to full practical use to have device-independent quantum key distribution. The real issue here is can I use devices I don't know, that I haven't secured personally, to distribute secret keys over something like the…