Efficient Bit Sifting Scheme of Post-processing in Quantum Key Distribution

Abstract: Bit sifting is an important step in the post-processing of Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) whose function is to sift out the undetected original keys. The communication traffic of bit sifting has essential impact on the net secure key rate of a practical QKD system, and it is facing unprecedented challenges with the fast increase of the repetition frequency of quantum channel. In this paper, we present an efficient bit sifting scheme whose core is a lossless source coding algorithm. Both theoretical analysis and experimental results demonstrate that the performance of our scheme is approaching the Shannon limit. Our scheme can greatly decrease the communication traffic of the post-processing of a QKD system, which means it can decrease the secure key consumption for classical channel authentication and increase the net secure key rate of the QKD system. Meanwhile, it can relieve the storage pressure of the system greatly, especially the device at Alice side. Some recommendations on the application of our scheme to some representative practical QKD systems are also provided.