Quantum-secured routing in drone communication for 6G-enabled smart mobility

Hafeez, S, Abro, GEM, Memon, SA, Khan, TA, Memon, I and Nasir, H (2026) Quantum-secured routing in drone communication for 6G-enabled smart mobility. Scientific Reports, 16 (1). ISSN 2045-2322

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Abstract

The emergence of sixth-generation (6G) wireless networks introduces unprecedented requirements for ultra-secure, low-latency communication across heterogeneous space–air–ground integrated network (SAGIN). Existing drone communication frameworks including LoRaWAN, Long Term Evolution, and Ad Hoc mesh architectures exhibit critical vulnerabilities to eavesdropping, jamming, and quantum-computational attacks due to their reliance on classical cryptographic primitives. To address these challenges, this work presents the Quantum-Secured Adaptive Routing Algorithm (QSARA), a novel framework designed for 6G-enabled unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) networks that integrates Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS), and Joint Communication and Sensing (JCAS) to enhance information-theoretic security and real-time performance. The proposed framework employs a quantum-augmented dynamic graph model to represent UAV swarm networking and uses Proximal Policy Optimisation (PPO)-based deep reinforcement learning to optimise routing under adversarial and uncertain conditions. A multi-objective cost function jointly captures classical quality of service metrics, such as latency, bandwidth, and energy consumption alongside with quantum-layer security indicators, including quantum bit error rate, key pool entropy, and key availability. High-fidelity simulations with 500 mobile drones under diverse adversarial threats demonstrate that the proposed framework achieves a key establishment success rate of 96.2%, end-to-end latency of 23.7 milliseconds, energy consumption of 7.8 watt-hours, and a packet delivery ratio of 94.1%, outperforming state-of-the-art classical and quantum-aware baselines. These results position the QSARA as a scalable and quantum-resilient routing solution for mission-critical UAV networking in next-generation 6G smart mobility ecosystems.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Quantum Key Distribution (QKD); Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS); Joint Communication and Sensing (JCAS); Sixth-Generation Networks (6G); Quantum-Secured Adaptive Routing Algorithm (QSARA); Smart Mobility; Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs); Space-Air-Ground Integrated Networks (SAGIN); Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs); Joint Communication and Sensing (JCAS); Quantum Key Distribution (QKD); Quantum-Secured Adaptive Routing Algorithm (QSARA); Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS); Sixth-Generation Networks (6G); Smart Mobility; Space-Air-Ground Integrated Networks (SAGIN); 40 Engineering; 46 Information and Computing Sciences; 4006 Communications Engineering; 4009 Electronics, Sensors and Digital Hardware; 4602 Artificial Intelligence; 4605 Data Management and Data Science; 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
Subjects:	Q Science > QA Mathematics > QA76 Computer software T Technology > T Technology (General)
Divisions:	Computer Science and Mathematics
Publisher:	Nature
Date of acceptance:	12 January 2026
Date of first compliant Open Access:	27 May 2026
Date Deposited:	27 May 2026 11:00
Last Modified:	27 May 2026 11:00
DOI or ID number:	10.1038/s41598-026-36297-5
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/28657

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