The project is a multinational collaboration that will span over three years with SK Telecom (SKT) as the first Asian private company to participate. It will be joined by institutions from three European countries, the National Centre of Scientific Research (NCSRD) in Greece, the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT), and German semiconductor startup Synogate UG.

The research funding program Horizon Europe is the EU’s flagship research fund, with a total budget of approximately 95.5 billion euros. Korea’s position as an associate member has paved the way for SKT to receive such funding directly from the EU.

“Securing this Horizon Europe project reflects SKT’s depth of expertise in quantum cryptography R&D.” said Yu Takki, Head of Network Technology Office at SKT. “Building on this, SKT will strengthen its position in the global quantum cryptography market through the development of next-generation QKD systems that integrate PIC and AI technologies.” 

The project aims to develop and showcase a next-generation Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system based on Quantum Photonic Integrated Circuit-Artificial Intelligence (QPIC-AI) – in laypersons terms it seems that the combination of a photonic processor with AI leads to ultra-fast AI computation with extreme energy efficiency – to strengthen communications security.

Another goal is standardisation. Currently Korea and Europe operate on different certification standards. It is expected that the project will also contribute to the international standardisation of quantum cryptography technologies, building the foundation for a future international certification standard under global institutions.

Using the principles of quantum mechanics, QKD can simultaneously develop and distribute cryptographic keys between communicating parties, making it the most secure cryptographic system in the world today apparently. Any third party attempts to intercept the key would change the physical state of the quantum particles, making an interception theoretically impossible to remain undetected.

But current QKD system adoption remains limited as the system’s optical parts that make it so precise are bulky, heavy, and expensive to assemble. This makes for high deployment costs. The idea here seems to be to shrink the size and reduce the cost for broader quantum cryptographic communications market adoption.

SKT says it is addressing these challenges firstly by consolidating multiple bulky optical components onto a single, miniature chip using semiconductor process technology. This the telco likens to how smartphone camera modules revolutionised traditional photography. Just as was done then, here the operator’s aim is to replace large, heavy hardware with a single chip.

The second approach to address challenges involves integrating AI directly into the system. This will allow the technology to constantly check and adjust the optical parts in real time, helping to prevent any issues caused by environmental factors such as temperature changes or vibrations, making the whole quantum communication system more stable.

There are many other benefits beyond simple miniaturization, we’re told. These include lowering costs through mass production, which in turn is enabled by semiconductor manufacturing, and lower power consumption. Combined these benefits are also to expand the use of QKD technology to a wider range of industries, we're told. SKT says much of the applications are currently confined to niche sectors such as defence and military.

SKT has been working on quantum cryptography research and development for over 15 years. Some of its work includes the expansion of the telco's fibre-based QKD technology into wireless and satellite QKD. The operator is also developing next-generation technologies, such as a 10Gbit/s-class, high-performance quantum random number generator (QRNG). These experiences will certainly benefit the EU, where much of technology advancements of recent years have been relinquished to other major economies and where telecom operators repeatedly call for digital sovereignty and technological innovation.

The project is also equally beneficial for Korea as a country, Yu concludes: “The experience and outcomes from this multinational collaboration are also expected to make a meaningful contribution to the advancement of quantum technology in Korea.”

Source:https://www.telecoms.com/security/sk-telecom-secures-eu-funds-for-quantum-cryptography-project