Modulating Retroreflector-Aided UAV-Based FSO/QKD Systems

Abstract:Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)-based free-space optics (FSO)/quantum key distribution (QKD) systems require high-precision pointing mechanisms. This increases system complexity and limits rapid deployment for lightweight and energy-constrained UAVs. This paper proposes a modulating retroreflector (MRR)-equipped UAV architecture for BB84-QKD systems that enables simplified yet accurate tracking while relaxing pointing requirements. A realistic quantum channel model is developed, for which we newly derive the channel probability distribution of transmittance (PDT). Capitalizing on the derived channel PDT, several QKD performance metrics are analytically obtained. Numerical results verify the feasibility of the proposed MRR-aided UAV for practical QKD deployment, highlight its effectiveness over conventional UAV-ground systems, and validate the accuracy of the developed analytical framework.

Networking and Internet Architecture (cs.NI); Quantum Physics (quant-ph)

arXiv:2609.25928 [cs.NI]

(or arXiv:2609.25928v1 [cs.NI] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2609.25928 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite

IEEE Communications Letters, Vol. 30, 2026

https://doi.org/10.1109/LCOMM.2026.3722531 Focus to learn more DOI(s) linking to related resources

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