After leaving the laboratory, Lu Zhou gestured for Academician Xue to wait for a second. He then looked at the two security guards standing at the door and spoke in a serious tone.
"Adjust the security level here to Class A. No one is allowed to come here except for me."
The two security guards stood straight and raised their hands in a neat military salute.
"Okay."
After leaving the Institute of Semiconductors, Academician Xue looked at Lu Zhou and spoke.
"Are they from the military?"
Lu Zhou: "They're retired from the military. I have a good relationship with their regiment commander, so I arranged a job for them."
He didn't have to worry about the background check for people who came from the military. Regiment Commander Dai wouldn't recommend anyone who didn't pass the background check. Also, in terms of security capabilities, people who came from the military were far better than people who were recruited through normal channels. They didn't even have to go through basic training; they could just start working right away.
Ever since the establishment of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, they had never lost a single piece of draft paper, much less a criminal case like the theft of materials. This was all thanks to these lovely people who were dedicated to their duties.
Lu Zhou brought Academician Xue to his office. He told his secretary to pour him a cup of tea and a cup of coffee.
After doing these things, the secretary left the office and closed the door.
After the door closed, Lu Zhou looked at the old man sitting across from him and spoke with a smile.
"I'm guessing you have a lot of questions, please go ahead."
Academician Xue went silent for a second and sighed.
"Before coming here, I did have a lot of questions, but now … I feel like I have the answers. Not to mention … "
The old academician had a complicated smile on his face.
"… Cryptography should be retired from the stage of history, right?"
Lu Zhou shook his head.
"This statement is too absolute. It takes time for any technology to be upgraded. Even with a clean and efficient energy like fusion energy, coal still occupies a small market share in our western region …"
"Not to mention, only the use of encryption algorithms in long-distance communication has retired. Cryptography can still play a big role in short-distance communication, as well as other fields …"
Lu Zhou looked at Academician Xue and spoke.
"… All that is needed is to make some adjustments."
Academician Xue pondered over Lu Zhou's words.
Lu Zhou didn't want to interrupt his thoughts. He picked up the coffee cup and blew on the steam before he slowly took a sip.
After about five minutes, Academician Xue finally raised his head and spoke in a serious manner.
"Is there anything I can help with?"
An approving smile appeared on Lu Zhou's face.
"Of course."
"I have a few questions that I need to consult with experts in related fields."
Academician Xue: "What aspect?"
"About quantum communication."
Academician Xue paused for a second and said, "Quantum communication … I'm not an expert in this area, you should find a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China …"
"Before you came here, I had already sent an email to a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China. After hearing my question, they recommended you."
Lu Zhou looked at Academician Xue and said, "In addition to cryptography, you are also an expert in the field of communication engineering. You used to be a senior engineer at China Electronics Institute 46 and participated in the early construction of China's optical fiber network."
When Academician Xue heard these nostalgic memories, he began to reminisce.
However, in the end, he shook his head.
"That's all in the past. I've been in the field of communication security since 10 years ago. I'm afraid it's difficult for me to help you."
"But I believe in experience." Lu Zhou said in a serious manner, "Especially when we need to rebuild this communication network."
The moment Academician Xue heard this, his heart trembled, and he looked at Lu Zhou in disbelief.
"You mean, you plan on … You plan on using that kind of … quantum fiber? Rebuild the domestic communication network? "
"That's not what I plan to do."
Lu Zhou smiled faintly and spoke in a joking tone.
"Also, I never said it would only be in China."
…
Once the problem of the quantum repeater was solved, the entire quantum communication technology had the possibility of being commercialized.
However, quantum communication technology had a fatal shortcoming, which was the amount of data transmitted per unit of time.
Take the submarine optical cable from the West Coast of the United States to the East Coast of China as an example. The bandwidth was easily measured in Tbps.
This scale of data wasn't difficult for traditional optical fibers. However, for quantum communication technology that relied on single-photon entanglement to achieve information transmission, this was a problem that couldn't be solved in a short period of time.
Simply put, the communication channel based on quantum communication technology could satisfy the data exchange between a limited number of companies, but it couldn't carry the scale of the Internet.
However, this wasn't without a solution.
According to the IST
FP5 report, a 128-bit key could secure 100 Gbit data. In theory, only a quantum communication channel with a bandwidth of Mtps was needed to lock all information across the Pacific Ocean.
Therefore, a perfect solution was to combine traditional communication methods with quantum communication technology. The traditional communication channel would be used to send the "locked" information, and the quantum communication channel would be used to distribute the "unlocked" key.
It was like a big hand delivering a package and a small hand delivering a key.
This kind of encryption method, which was similar to "one key at a time", could theoretically achieve the level of "unconditional security". If there was only one key to unlock the key, then no matter how fast a computer was, it would be impossible to steal the key through pure computing power.
In order to achieve the separation of the key and the encrypted information, a new set of communication protocols was needed. Not just that, but in order to improve the efficiency of information transmission, the quantum communication network used to distribute keys must be rigorously designed.
Admittedly, this was not an easy task.
But in any case, compared to a quantum repeater, it was much easier.
Without any hesitation, Academician Xue accepted Lu Zhou's invitation on the spot and participated in the construction of the quantum communication network project. He stayed at Jin Ling University in the name of an exchange.
Coincidentally, he was still worried about how to avoid his colleagues and old friends who were waiting for him to go to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to "ask for an explanation".
Even though it was easy to keep his mouth shut, the industry he was in was too small.
Even if he didn't say anything, people could guess what he was thinking with just one look.
Whether it was for the big picture or for himself, leaving for a while was the best choice …
With the addition of Academician Xue, the entire quantum communication network project was advancing at lightning speed. With the experience of this old gentleman, Lu Zhou quickly found an optimal way to combine quantum communication technology and traditional communication technology. He completed a structural framework for this new communication protocol.
Time quickly passed by, and it was finally the last day of April.
An experimental quantum communication pipeline with a length of about 500 meters was built in a hidden corner of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study. On the other hand, this ivory tower that stood at the top of China's academic community also welcomed a special guest …
Lamp Pen
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