Security enhancement by swapping bits belonging to different data channels

Abstract

A simple coding scheme is proposed to enhance information security in all-optical networks. It is based on swapping of data bits belonging to two different channels to form two garbled bit streams. The encryptor and decryptor designs used here can be implemented by using commercially available components. The performance of the proposed technique is evaluated at the system level by considering multiple spans of optical fibers with in-line optical amplifiers. Numerical simulations show that the decoded bit streams can be recovered with acceptable bit error rates after 500 km.