NCC 2025
2025 national conference on communications
6th-9th March, 2025
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
WORKSHOP ON QUANTUM COMMUNICATions and Information Processing
Date: 9th March
Time: 10AM
Venue: LH111
Secure Communication in the Quantum World
Speaker: Prof. Bhaskar Kanseri, IIT Delhi
Abstract: Establishing secure communication in the quantum world is quite demanding and challenging task. The quantum era is governed by Quantum Physics, which offers a framework to test fundamental aspects of quantum mechanics such as coherence, entanglement, and non-classical properties of light-matter now leading to quantum technologies. Quantum key distribution (QKD) is a method of quantum cryptography, which has become a new generation security solution and does not rely on the computation assumptions of problems presumed difficult. QKD can provide a secure means for information exchange even in the presence of quantum computers. Optical fiber offers a reliable quantum channel for QKD well tested for existing telecommunication, which can offer not only point to point connectivity but also a means for long distance information exchange. This talk will highlight some implementations of fiber based QKD made by our group at IIT Delhi in lab scale and in real field environment. Notably, the first Indian long distance intercity fiber QKD ranging more than 100kms, and baseline error optimized QKD over 380km fiber would be discussed. Some aspects of entanglement based QKD will also be discussed, focusing on the need of coexistence of classical and quantum signal on same fiber. The need of multi-node quantum networks for realizing quantum internet would also be discussed.
Bio: Dr. Bhaskar Kanseri is working as IHFC chair professor at Department of Physics and a joint faculty at Optics and Photonics Center (OPC), IIT Delhi. Prior joining IITD, he was postdoctoral fellow at Institut d’Optique, Palaiseau France, and earlier at Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Erlangen Germany. He received his PhD from University of Delhi and National Physical Laboratory, New Delhi. His research interests span in optics and photonics, statistical optics, quantum optics, and photonic quantum technologies. He has more than 70 publications in peer-reviewed international journals and about 140 conference presentations and invited lectures in his credit. He has been awarded "Teaching excellence award-2022" and "Veena Arora Early Career Research Award-2022" by IIT Delhi for his teaching and research contributions. In 2023, he has been selected as member of The National Academy of Sciences India (NASI), and Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Associate Fellow. Some of his notable contributions in fiber based secure quantum communication are the “first Indian intercity quantum secure communication for 100km” in 2022 and the “trusted node free quantum secure communication for 380km” achieved in 2023. Currently he is pioneering entanglement-based quantum network activities at IIT Delhi.
Secure Quantum Communication: Present status and the challenges
Speaker: Prof. Anirban Pathak, JIIT Noida
Abstract: Starting from the foundational issues associated with the concept of "photon," an idea about the existing schemes for quantum key distribution and other secure communication tasks will be developed. In the process, merits, demerits, and challenges associated with quantum cryptography will be discussed with specific focus on the engineering challenges and the problems associated with the identity authentication layer. It will be shown that there exists a close relationship between quantum computing and quantum communication. Specifically, the relationship will be explored by describing some secure multiparty quantum computation protocols. Further, an idea of quantum network and challenges associated with developing a quantum internet will be discussed briefly with some exposure to entanglement routing and bottleneck removal problems.
Bio: Prof. Anirban Pathak is a theoretical physicist. He did his Ph.D. from Visva-Bharati, Santiniketan, India. Subsequently, he was a post-doctoral fellow at the Freie University, Berlin. He joined JIIT, Noida in 2002. At present, he is a Professor and head of the Department of Physics and Materials Science and Engineering at JIIT, Noida. He is actively involved in teaching and research related to several aspects of quantum optics and quantum information with a focus on quantum cryptography and photonic quantum computing. He is a fellow of The National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI). He was a visiting scientist at Palacky University, Czech Republic for a long period. He is also one of the editors of Quantum Information Processing, Springer-Nature and Quantum Review Letters. He has guided a large number of PhD students and Post-Doctoral Fellows. He has designed several new schemes for secure quantum communication and secure multiparty quantum computation and has also completed several DST, MeitY, Indo-US collaboration initiatives and DRDO funded projects. At present, he has ongoing projects funded by DST, MeitY and DRDO. He has active research collaboration with different research groups in India and abroad. He is a recipient of 2017 Shri O. P. Bhasin Award in the field of Electronics and Information Technology.
Advancing Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) Technologies at C-DOT
Speaker: Arka Mukherjee, Scientist ‘E’, C-DOT
Abstract: The Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT), the premier telecom technology centre of the Government of India, has been at the forefront of designing and developing indigenous fibre-based Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) solutions. These solutions leverage discrete-variable (DV) QKD protocols to ensure secure communication. C-DOT's QKD portfolio encompasses systems based on Coherent One-Way (COW), Differential Phase Shift (DPS), and Measurement Device Independent (MDI) QKD protocols. This talk will delve into C-DOT's endeavours in QKD technologies, addressing the intricate aspects of system design and development. It will also highlight the practical challenges associated with large-scale deployment of QKD networks.
Bio: Arka works as a Scientist E and Team Leader at the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) and is responsible for the hardware design aspects of quantum key distribution (QKD) development. He has more than 12 years of experience in designing embedded hardware for optical access networks and QKD systems. He is a gold medalist in Master of Science (Research) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Telecommunication Engineering from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India.
Title: Quantum sensing explorations at TCS on the cusp of the second quantum revolution
Speaker: Sourav Chatterjee, TCS Research
Abstract: After the 20th century having witnessed the first quantum revolution, there is a broad consensus that we are now on the cusp of a second quantum revolution, and that the 21st century will offer even more disruptive quantum technologies. By exploiting quantum resources such as superposition and entanglement, we can radically transform many technologies including sensing. Quantum sensing is a mature quantum technology that can offer potentially sensors with sensitivities approaching the fundamental (Heisenberg) limit. Such sensors use qubits (quantum particles) prepared in a certain state that make them extremely sensitive to changes in the environment. Hence, they can be used to measure physical quantities with an unprecedented sensitivity compared to their traditional counterparts. In this talk, we aim to present the viewpoints of and explorations at TCS Research on quantum sensing and precision metrology from a didactic perspective, which seem to offer a near-term commercial promise.
Bio: Sourav Chatterjee is leading the research efforts in Quantum Optical Technologies at TCS. Previously, he worked as a Scientist (C) in the Quantum Experiments with Satellite Technology (QuEST) project between the Raman Research Institute (RRI) and the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). He has 11+ years of research experience in quantum optical technologies which includes his doctoral research at the Max-Planck-Institute for the Science of Light in Germany. In 2020, as a part of a two-member team from RRI, he won the BRICS Worldskills competition in Quantum Technology competence organised by the Russian Quantum Centre, and in that year one of his experiments of which he was a part, got considered as one of the 20 major success stories of 2020 by the DST. Besides, he holds a B. Sc. in Physics from Calcutta University, a B. Tech. in Computer Science Engineering and a M.S. by research in Computational Natural Sciences from IIIT-Hyderabad.
Title: Introduction to Quantum Communications: A Communication Theoretic Perspective
Speaker: Dr. Neel Kanth Kundu, IIT Delhi
Abstract: This talk will introduce the fundamental concepts of quantum communications theory to an audience with background in electronics and communication engineering. The talk will generalize the concepts of analog and digital communications using the theory of quantum mechanics and information theory. The objective of the talk is to provide a broad understanding of the mathematical concepts behind the design and analysis of quantum communication systems to an audience working in the field of classical communications. The talk will discuss the fundamental difference between classical and quantum optical communication systems. Furthermore, the talk will delve into Helstrom’s theory of Quantum decision theory for binary systems and discuss its application in analyzing the error performance of BPSK and OOK modulation schemes. The talk will also introduce the optimal quantum state discrimination using semidefinite programming, the square root measurements and discuss their applications in the error analysis of quantum PSK and QAM modulation schemes. Finally, the talk will introduce the fundamental concepts of quantum key distribution.
Bio: Neel Kanth Kundu has been an Assistant Professor at the Centre for Applied Research in Electronics (CARE) and a joint faculty at Bharti School of Telecommunication Technology and Management, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi since Oct-2023. He is also an honorary fellow at the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE), University of Melbourne, Australia. Dr. Kundu received the B.Tech. degree in electrical engineering with a specialization in communication systems and networking from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in 2018, and the Ph.D. degree in electronic and computer engineering (ECE) with a concentration in scientific computation from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in 2022. From Feb’23 to Oct’23 he was a postdoctoral research fellow with the Department of EEE at the University of Melbourne and from Sep’23 to Jan’24 he was a postdoctoral research associate with the department of ECE, HKUST in Hong Kong.
His research interests include signal processing for 6G wireless communications, quantum communications, and quantum information processing. Dr. Kundu is a recipient of DST INSPIRE faculty fellowship, the Hong Kong Ph.D. Fellowship, Overseas Research Award, HKUST RedBird Academic Excellence Award, and Hong Kong Telecommunication Institute of Information Technology Post-Graduate Excellence Scholarship. He was one of the winners of the 3 Minute Research Video Contest at the Global Young Scientists Summit'21organized by National Research Foundation, Government of Singapore.