HellasQCI participated at this year’s ECOC2024 conference with a Paper Presentation titled “Field Demonstration of a Fully Managed, L1 Encrypted 3-Node Network with Hybrid Relayed-QKD and Centralized Symmetric Classical Key Management” in a collaborative effort by GRNET, NKUA, Nokia, EvolutionQ and ID Quantique.
Ass. Professor George T. Kanellos, NKUA and Technical Coordinator of HellasQCI project demonstrated, on 26 September 2024 during a scientific paper presentation, the HellasQCI PoC Athens Quantum Network in a collaborative scientific paper by Nokia, ID Quantique, EvolutionQ and GRNET – Greek Research & Technology Network.
The Proof-of-Concept (PoC) aims to validate HellasQCI Architecture
The topology includes a 3-node full ring configuration between GRNET & NKUA (max distance 45km), where every node is a fully integrated vertical stack featuring: 1. a Quantum layer, 2. a KMS layer and 3. an Αpplication layer.
PoC key features and innovations
- Hybrid operation – SMS orchestrates and uses both QKD-keys and quantum-safe classical keys in case of QKD fail
- Supports Optimized QKD resources – requires less QKD pairs (two QKD pairs for 3 nodes) Operate in a relayed function
- Co-ordinates Application layer and key management layer – Deployed Key consumers in all three nodes.
Next Steps
Looking ahead and following the success of the PoC in Athens and the validation of the architecture, the next steps of the HellasQCI project include a large-scale deployment of the HellasQCI networks.
