A novel tree-topology based routing algorithm for partially-trusted QKD networks

For the security requirements of high-speed and large-capacity transmission, quantum key distribution technology plays an important role in optical networks. In the process of deploying QKD networks in the future, the partially- trusted QKD network will be a more realistic scenario. To solve the QKD with an untrusted relay, MDI-QKD protocol is designed, In MDI-QKD, two QKD nodes send the quantum states to the untrusted relay and the measurement device in the untrusted relay measures the received quantum states. Based on the overall feasibility of QKD-integrated optical networks and the common tree topologies in backbone optical networks, this paper proposes a quantum key distribution method and a routing algorithm in a partially-trusted QKD tree-topology network by combining the trusted relay technology and MDI- QKD protocol and considering the quantum key pool. Simulation results show that the proposed TT-AR algorithm is effective for tree topologies.