Quantum Corridor, in collaboration with Toshiba International Corporation and partners, has successfully demonstrated quantum-secured communication over a live metropolitan fiber network in the United States, connecting Tier III data centers across Illinois and Indiana.
The demonstration represents a step toward developing a commercially scalable, quantum-safe internet in the U.
S. The team implemented Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) over commercial fiber infrastructure, extending from Chicago’s ORD 10 Data Center (350 Cermak) to the Digital Crossroad Data Center (100 Digital Crossroad Drive) in Hammond, Indiana. The experiment validated the use of Toshiba’s multiplexed QKD technology and Ciena’s high-speed coherent transport systems to facilitate continuous, secure key generation and high-throughput encryption across a 21.8km segment of Quantum Corridor’s live high-capacity optical network.
In QKD, cryptographic keys are co-generated through the interplay of quantum physics, where single photons’ quantum states establish correlated randomness, and classical communication, which reconciles and verifies that randomness into an identical secret key at both ends. This marks the first on a commercial carrier in the U.
S. The network utilized Toshiba’s ETSI-compliant QKD systems to achieve secure key rates averaging 1,500 kbps. These quantum-generated keys were integrated into Ciena Waveserver 5 800G coherent encryption modules, which provided AES-256-GCM encryption. The FIPS 140-3 Level 2 certified solution securely obtained a fresh set of QKD keys every 90 seconds.
Terry Cronin, Vice President at Toshiba International Corporation, stated, “This collaboration marks a major milestone for quantum-secure communications, moving use cases out of the lab and into the real world on existing fiber. This opens the door to faster innovation, broader adoption, and stronger collaboration across the quantum ecosystem, accelerating customer adoption of quantum-secure networks.”
Ryan Lafler, President & CTO of Quantum Corridor, added, “This is a historic step toward realizing a quantum-secure communications fabric for America’s digital economy, defense, life science industry and beyond. Working with Toshiba and our regional partners, we’ve shown that quantum-safe networking can be deployed today—on existing infrastructure—to protect the data that underpins our most critical systems.”
The system maintained 100% line-rate throughput and zero packet loss over 48 hours of continuous encrypted traffic, demonstrating the readiness of QKD for real-world, high-availability network operations. This offers quantum communications for sensitive data in sectors such as finance, healthcare, defense, and government applications.
Dr. Michael Manfra, Director of the Purdue University Quantum Science and Engineering Institute, commented, “It is extremely exciting to witness QKD deployed and functioning on a fully commercial network under real world conditions. This achievement marks a significant transitioning towards commercially viable secure quantum key distribution across state boundaries in a major metropolitan center. This result from Quantum Corridor and Toshiba bodes well for further commercial expansion in the Midwest Quantum heartland.”
The collaboration between Quantum Corridor and Toshiba, both corporate partners of the Chicago Quantum Exchange (CQE), originated from the CQE partnership program. This program connects organizations to advance research and development in the quantum ecosystem. Dr. David Awschalom, the University of Chicago’s Liew Family professor of molecular engineering and the director of the CQE, highlighted, “The partnerships that fueled this work highlight the essential role of collaboration across borders and between organizations in accelerating quantum technology development. This is why building a strong quantum ecosystem matters. By bringing teams of researchers with different strengths and assets together, we make projects like this possible.” Quantum Corridor piloted this project using Toshiba QKD equipment on loan to the Chicago Quantum Exchange, with input from a University of Chicago graduate student.
Quantum Corridor Inc. was formed by Chicago-area technology innovators to develop technology infrastructure in Indiana and create an information-sharing platform for institutions like the Chicago Quantum Exchange, defense contractors, research hubs, and universities. It is a member of the Bloch Tech Hub, a coalition of industry, academic, government, and nonprofit stakeholders led by Chicago Quantum Exchange, which is one of 31 U.
S. Regional and Innovation Technology Hubs designated for quantum technologies. Quantum Corridor Inc. became a Chicago Quantum Exchange member in April 2024. The Quantum Corridor network is projected to span 263 miles, aiming to be the nation’s largest quantum computing superhighway.
Toshiba International Corporation (TIC), a Toshiba America Inc. Group company and a wholly owned subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation, includes divisions such as Motors & Adjustable Speed Drives, Power Electronics, Automotive, Transportation, Digital Solutions, Quantum Key Distribution, and Transmission & Distribution. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, TIC provides application solutions across various industries including energy, general industrial, data centers, automotive, and medical.
