Nanosecond synchronization of time scales by meteor reflections and its application to information protection

The paper deals with the problems of reaching high metrological potential of the meteor burst channel used for time transfer with time-scale coordination performed by methods of automatic control. In order to overcome the instability and varying precision of time shift measurements in the meteor channel a new model of time-scale control is developed. This model is based on optimal linear filtration and experimental data analogue that uses the results of meteor time shift measurements on the Mendeleevo (Moscow Oblast)–Kazan radio path. In the experiment the time scales are relied on H-maser and cesium frequency standard. The method of time scale control by meteor channel has been developed that gives real-time precision of 0.3–1.0 ns and can be used for metrological purposes and information protection. Meteor cryptography is a new method for distant generation of secure keys that may result in perfect information protection. It is based on high-precision time scale synchronization and high channel reciprocity combined with mirroring property of meteor radio wave propagation. Some variants of using the meteor channel concurrently for two purposes, namely synchronization and secure key generation, are analyzed and the estimates of the capacity of the key-generation procedure are presented.