Principles of quantum communications system design

• Applicant: Dr. Janis Nötzel
• Subject Area: Electronic Semiconductors, Components and Circuits, Integrated Systems, Sensor Technology, Theoretical Electrical Engineering
• Term: since 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 389690694

One of the most fascinating developments of our time is the emergence of local, nationwide and even global information processing systems which connect increasing numbers of sensors, individuals, companies and nations. Their economic potential and impact on our society is enormous. The emergence of mobile communication networks has especially revolutionized our way of living by offering connectivity everywhere, for almost everybody, and at any time. The telecommunication networks of the fifth generation will connect not only mobile devices used for data and voice communication, but will further include innumerable small sensors and devices. The increase in connectivity will free up additional intellectual potential and provide the opportunity to reach entirely new ways of living, thinking and working together.Despite their great potential, the distributed nature of modern communication networks makes them extremely vulnerable to attack. Typical attacks include making parts of the information in the network unavailable, replacing them with false information, or stealing them. Quantum technologies will be a game changer: they promise perfectly secure information transmission, once robustness against environmental noise and jamming attacks can be guaranteed. The large scale distribution of entanglement may enable entirely new low latency use cases. The computational speed of quantum computers will facilitate the breaking of cryptographic encryption protocols, but will also help us to analyze extremely large data sets. In order to have a fruitful impact on our society, the development of quantum technologies needs a thorough understanding of key mechanisms, resulting in well-functioning equipment and adequate forecasts of their potential impact. A natural step that has to be taken when studying mobile communication systems is to rethink them by adding what we will call a quantum layer. This layer is to guarantee secure information exchange, but may also enable completely new technologies based on ultra-fast correlated decision making or data processing tasks in the domain of machine learning.This project will strengthen the theoretical foundations of robust and secure information transmission, and develop new coding schemes for elementary channel models. The interplay of basic communication resources will be studied, as will be the role of entanglement in meeting low latency requirements such as those imposed on 5G networks. We will also further the connection between information theory and elementary (quantum) machine learning tasks through analysis application to current engineering problems. A unified information-theoretic framework to encompass the different topics will be provided, as well as a technology forecast estimating the impact of quantum communication on our society. We will encompass four main areas of research: Robust communication, secure communication, machine learning and coordination in communication networks.

• DFG Programme: Independent Junior Research Groups