Simultaneous Quantum Information and Power Transfer-Based Green QKD Receiver Architectures

Considering the carbon footprint of rapidly evolving quantum systems and technologies, it is essential to develop energy efficient and sustainable next generation quantum communication systems. Simultaneous Lightwave Information and Power Transfer (SLIPT) enables the transfer of power and information from a transmitter to a receiver through light waves in the infrared (IR) and visible portions of the electro-magnetic spectrum. In this work, the authors propose QKD-featured, SLIPT-enabled (QuIPT) quantum communication hybrid receiver architectures. Specifically, the authors present simplified green QKD receiver architectures integrating free space QKD and SLIPT. The proposed system is useful for developing QKD-featured autonomous quantum Internet of Light Things (QIoLT). The simplified architecture comprises two key modules: the QKD-decryption and decoding module and the energy harvesting subsystem module. Finally, the authors present additional remarks on extending the architectures to include radio frequency based energy harvesting (RFbEH) modules for superior performance.