Quantum Cloud with Communication, Computing, Caching, and Cipher (4C) Resource Coordination

The cloud services requiring communication, computing and caching (3C) resources are supported by datacenter networks (DCNs). The service security is threatened due to the development of quantum computers. Quantum key distribution (QKD) technology promises to share secret keys as cipher resources between remote users with information-theoretic security. The quantum cloud is illustrated which is realized by the QKD-secured cloud datacenter network. In the quantum cloud, the communication, computing, caching and cipher (4C) resources are provided for data transmission, processing, storing and encryption. To solve the newly emerged 4C resource coordination problem, a 4C-oriented control architecture is designed and the heuristic algorithms for securing service function chains are innovatively proposed. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithms can achieve the great service success ratio performance compared with the baseline.

Automated summary

Cloud services relying on communication, computing, and caching resources are supported by datacenter networks (DCNs). The security of these services is under threat due to the emergence of quantum computers. Quantum key distribution (QKD) technology offers information-theoretically secure secret key sharing between remote users. A quantum cloud, achieved through QKD-secured cloud datacenter networks, provides communication, computing, caching, and cipher resources for data transmission, processing, storing, and encryption. To address the coordination problem of the newly emerged 4C resources, a 4C-oriented control architecture is designed, and innovative heuristic algorithms for securing service function chains are proposed. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithms outperform the baseline in terms of service success ratio.