Integrating post-quantum cryptography and DPU acceleration in modern networks
Abraham Cano Aguilera defended his PhD thesis at the Department of Electrical Engineering on February 5.
The internet is currently protected by cryptography, but quantum computers are becoming powerful enough to threaten this foundation. Once large-scale quantum machines arrive, they could break the public鈥慿ey methods used in things like secure websites, software updates, and device authentication. This makes sensitive data readable very quickly. In his PhD research, Abraham Cano Aguilera tackles this challenge by identifying where classical key exchange occurs in real networks and demonstrating how to replace it with quantum鈥憇ecure alternatives.
Major standards organizations are already pushing for a transition to quantum鈥憆esistant security. In the U.S., NIST is standardizing post鈥憅uantum cryptography (PQC), a new generation of algorithms designed to remain secure even under quantum attack. In Europe, ETSI is working on integrating quantum key distribution (QKD), a physics鈥慴ased method for securely sharing keys, into existing security systems. focuses mainly on PQC in his research.
A look at key protocols
First, he examines key protocols across the network stack: TLS for secure web connections, IPsec for VPNs and secure IP traffic, and MACsec for protecting Ethernet links. He then adapts these protocols to use quantum-resistant keys, either through custom modifications or by integrating established cryptographic libraries.
Rising data speed
Aguilera also addresses another major shift in networking: rapidly increasing data rates. As speeds rise, the bottleneck is moving to processing after transmission. Cryptography can become a significant computational and energy cost, increasing latency and CPU load. To solve this, Aguilera explores the use of NVIDIA DPUs to offload and accelerate encryption in the data plane using AES鈥�256鈥慓CM.
A testbed with SMARTNICs
His work includes a quantum鈥憇ecure testbed built in Eindhoven using SMARTNICs. The control plane is protected with PQC, specifically Kyber and Dilithium, while high鈥憇peed traffic encryption is accelerated in hardware. The results show how DPUs can support the creation of future鈥憄roof data centers that deliver both high performance and readiness for the quantum era.
Title of PhD thesis: . Supervisors: Prof. Idelfonso Tafur Monroy, Dr. Juan Jos茅 Vegas Olmos and Prof. Jos茅 Luis Ima帽a Pascual.