Variations of QKD Protocols Based on Conventional System Measurements: A Literature Review

Cryptography is an unexpected revolution in information security in the recent decades, where remarkable improvements have been created to provide confidentiality and integrity. Quantum cryptography is one such improvement that has grown rapidly since the first announced protocol. Quantum cryptography contains substantial elements that must be addressed to ensure secure communication between legitimate parties. Quantum key distribution (QKD), a technique for creating a secret key, is one of the most interesting areas in quantum cryptography. This paper reviews some well-known quantum key distribution techniques that have been demonstrated in the past three decades. Furthermore, this paper discusses the process of creating a secret key using quantum mechanics and cryptography methods. Moreover, it explains the relationships between many basic aspects of QKD protocols and suggests some improvements in the cryptosystem. An accurate quantitative comparison between the QKD protocols is presented, especially the runtime execution for each QKD protocol. In addition, the paper will demonstrate a general model of each considered QKD protocol based on security principles.