A Chinese city has successfully tested an unhackable communications network, raising hopes of the world’s first large-scale business application of quantum communications.
Jinan Institute of Quantum Technology announced Xinhua that the network had recently been tested and designers were satisfied with its performance, especially when it comes to secured communications.
The network conducted greater than 50 rounds of tests on terminals in Jinan government agencies and various Communist Party offices. During tests, it transmitted data using quantum encryption keys between nearly 200 terminals in the town.
said Liu Hong, a professor at Shandong University who participated within the test Xinhua that the network turned out to be in “very perfect” condition.
The result’s a lift for the Beijing-Shanghai quantum network under construction. This uses Jinan, positioned between the 2 cities, as an intercity hub to route messages.
This was announced by the local authorities of Jinan, a city in eastern China Financial Times. on Monday that his departments would start using the network by the top of August.
“We plan to make use of this network for national defense, finance and other fields, and hope to roll it out as a pilot that, if successful, may be utilized in China and around the globe,” said Zhou Fei, deputy director of the Jinan Institute of Quantum Technology, the research institute involved within the project.
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) networks are safer than commonly used types of electronic communication. Eavesdropping on a quantum channel changes the knowledge being transmitted, and disruptions alert parties using it.
said Tim Byrnes, a quantum physicist at New York University’s Shanghai campus Financial Times.“China has achieved amazing things with quantum research. “It’s amazing how quickly China has made progress on quantum research projects that may be considered expensive elsewhere.”
In August 2016, China launched the world’s first satellite designed for quantum experiments. In June, China announced that its quantum satellite had successfully beamed a pair of entangled photons to 2 land-based stations.
