Quantum Corridor, Ciena and Toshiba have completed a field trial demonstrating 1.6 Tb/s quantum-safe encrypted optical networking across Quantum Corridor's live commercial network in the Midwest.

The trial, conducted between data centers in Chicago and Hammond, Indiana, validated encrypted 1.6 Tb/s connectivity using Ciena's Waveserver platform powered by WaveLogic 6 Extreme (WL6e). The deployment combined NIST-approved post-quantum cryptography (PQC) with interoperability for Toshiba's Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) technology, providing a hybrid approach to securing optical communications.

The demonstration was performed alongside existing WaveLogic 5 Extreme (WL5e) 800G encrypted traffic operating on the same photonic line system, showing that higher-capacity quantum-safe services can coexist with deployed infrastructure. Toshiba's QKD servers supplied quantum-generated encryption keys to Ciena's optical encryption systems during the trial.

The companies said the trial demonstrates how network operators can begin transitioning to quantum-safe communications while continuing to support growing bandwidth demands driven by cloud, artificial intelligence and other data-intensive applications. The approach is designed to address emerging cybersecurity concerns, including "harvest now, decrypt later" attacks, in which encrypted data captured today could potentially be decrypted by future quantum computers.

Ciena's quantum-safe encryption solution supports NIST-approved PQC algorithms and provides optical-layer AES-256-GCM encryption. The company also noted that existing deployments using WaveLogic 5 Extreme 800G encryption can add support for post-quantum cryptography through a software upgrade.

According to the companies, the trial illustrates a migration path that allows service providers and enterprises to adopt quantum-safe networking technologies while preserving existing optical infrastructure. The production network used in the demonstration continues to carry customer traffic between Quantum Corridor's Midwest data center locations.

Source: Ciena, Quantum Corridor Inc., & Toshiba

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