A Practical Implementation of Quantum-Derived Keys for Secure Vehicle-to-Infrastructure Communications

Abstract

We provide a practical implementation of a free space optical quantum key distribution (FSO-QKD) system within a vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) application developed under the Innovate UK AirQKD project. The FSO-QKD system provides the quantum secure encryption keys that serve as the foundation for secure communications throughout the V2I application to address known concerns over V2I security. This document includes summaries of the quantum key generation process and the deployed V2I technology. Subsequently, a high-level view of the system design, the practical experiment, and its execution are presented. Multiple AirQKD project partners developed technologies ranging from semiconductors and hardware to security protocols and software, to enable the QKD-secured V2I system. The developed technology includes a novel zero-trust security protocol used to protect the V2I communications, ensuring that spoofed V2I messages from a compromised device are not accepted by the system.