February Fourier Talks 2007

Multiterminal Data Compression and Secret Key Generation

Consider a situation in which multiple terminals observe separate but correlated signals. In a multiterminal data compression problem, a la the classic work of Slepian and Wolf, each terminal seeks to acquire the signals observed by all the other terminals by means of efficiently compressed interterminal communication. This problem does not involve any secrecy constraints. On the other hand, in a secret key generation problem, the same terminals seek to devise a ``common secret key" through public communication, which can be observed by an eavesdropper, in such a way that the key is concealed from the eavesdropper. Such a secret key can be used for subsequent encryption. We explain the innate connections that exist between these two problems. This talk is based on joint work with Imre Csiszar.