Delta-sigma noise shaping for low-resolution quantization in Gaussian-modulated continuous-variable quantum key distribution
Abstract
Low-resolution digital-to-analog conversion can simplify continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CVQKD) transmitters, but coarse quantization increases excess noise and can generate data-correlated spectral replicas. We demonstrate digital delta--sigma modulation (DSM) for low-resolution waveform generation in Gaussian-modulated CVQKD. In a 500-MBaud CVQKD system over 20~km of fiber, 3-bit second-order DSM achieves an estimated asymptotic secret key rate of 46.38~Mbps at an oversampling ratio of 12, whereas uniform quantization yields no positive rate. With 4-bit second-order DSM, the rate reaches 50.11~Mbps, approximately 97\% of the 12-bit reference. A noise model combining the DSM noise-transfer function with matched filtering guides the sampling-rate and signal-band design for effective noise suppression. We also identify a phase-conjugate spectral replica arising from third-order intermodulation between the pilot tone and quantum signal, and evaluate its key-rate penalty using a linear-replica security model. At 3-bit resolution and an oversampling ratio of 24, first-order DSM reduces the experimentally estimated leakage-mode strength by approximately four orders of magnitude. Together, our findings establish the security boundaries and operating conditions of DSM, providing design guidance for low-resolution CVQKD transmitters.
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BibTeX
@misc{fan2026deltasigma,
title = {{Delta-sigma noise shaping for low-resolution quantization in Gaussian-modulated continuous-variable quantum key distribution}},
author = {Wenjun Fan and Zhenlin Zhao and Dawei Wang},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.23654},
eprint = {2610.23654},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.23654},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Delta-sigma noise shaping for low-resolution quantization in Gaussian-modulated continuous-variable quantum key distribution
AU - Wenjun Fan
AU - Zhenlin Zhao
AU - Dawei Wang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/16
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.23654
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.23654
AB - Low-resolution digital-to-analog conversion can simplify continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CVQKD) transmitters, but coarse quantization increases excess noise and can generate data-correlated spectral replicas. We demonstrate digital delta--sigma modulation (DSM) for low-resolution waveform generation in Gaussian-modulated CVQKD. In a 500-MBaud CVQKD system over 20~km of fiber, 3-bit second-order DSM achieves an estimated asymptotic secret key rate of 46.38~Mbps at an oversampling ratio of 12, whereas uniform quantization yields no positive rate. With 4-bit second-order DSM, the rate reaches 50.11~Mbps, approximately 97\% of the 12-bit reference. A noise model combining the DSM noise-transfer function with matched filtering guides the sampling-rate and signal-band design for effective noise suppression. We also identify a phase-conjugate spectral replica arising from third-order intermodulation between the pilot tone and quantum signal, and evaluate its key-rate penalty using a linear-replica security model. At 3-bit resolution and an oversampling ratio of 24, first-order DSM reduces the experimentally estimated leakage-mode strength by approximately four orders of magnitude. Together, our findings establish the security boundaries and operating conditions of DSM, providing design guidance for low-resolution CVQKD transmitters.
ER -