JRC Ispra links up with atomic clock and the Quantum Backbone

Today, representatives from INRiM (National Institute for Meteorological Research in Torino), CERN (European Laboratory for Particle Physics), the European Space Agency, industry, government, and the European Commission inaugurated two new connections for the JRC Ispra site.  

The first one supports the distribution of time using White Rabbit, a technology developed at CERN that enables sub-nanosecond synchronisation. The second one, thanks to which the JRC joins the Italian Quantum Backbone, is for sending quantum signals, optical signals with an average power of around just one photon per pulse, used for the distribution of cryptographic keys by quantum protocols that allow the detection of any eavesdropper.  

Why is this important? 

INRiM will distribute a time signal to the JRC with nanosecond precision, provided by INRiM's caesium-fountain atomic clock, which is the primary standard for defining the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), the official time worldwide. 

Precise time is at the heart of positioning, navigation, and synchronisation. Access to a time signal direct from the UTC clock gives the ideal reference for experimental work at the JRC, including for the activities related to Galileo, Europe’s global satellite navigation system. 

The JRC will be the first site of the European Commission to be connected to the European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI), of which the Italian Quantum Backbone is part. EuroQCI is designed to ensure that even in the era of quantum technology, when new types of computers could threaten our existing forms of cryptography, communications will continue to be secure.    

In practical terms, this new capability will be essential for the JRC to conduct cutting-edge research in a number of areas related to communications, positioning, navigation, timing, security, quantum sensors, and more. For example, both precise timing and quantum security are essential for the planned IRIS² constellation of multi-orbit telecoms satellites, which the EU is currently developing for secure communications across the globe. 

Related links

Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica (INRiM)

The White Rabbit Project

The European Quantum Communication Infrastructure (EuroQCI) Initiative

Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite (IRIS²)