A Quantum OFDM Framework for High-Fidelity Image Transmission

Quantum communication offers a promising solution to overcome the limitations of classical communication, especially in addressing channel noise and signal fading. Inspired by classical Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), this study introduces a novel Quantum OFDM (QOFDM) framework for image transmission over noisy quantum channels. In the proposed system, the input image bitstream is channel encoded and then quantum encoded using qubit sizes ranging from 1 to 8, optimizing the trade-off between complexity and performance. This data is processed via serial-to-parallel conversion, and the Quantum Fourier Transform (QFT) is applied to create orthogonal subcarriers. After reconversion to serial, a cyclic prefix is added to mitigate inter-symbol interference. At the receiver, the cyclic prefix is removed, the signal is converted to parallel, and Inverse QFT (IQFT) is applied to recover the quantum states. The system then performs parallel-to-serial conversion, quantum decoding, and classical reconstruction to retrieve the transmitted image. Performance evaluation using Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) and Structural Similarity Index Measure (SSIM) shows that QOFDM outperforms classical OFDM in both image quality and noise resilience. The eight-qubit configuration achieves notable channel Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) gains, 22 dB in urban environments, and 16 dB in indoor settings over classical BPSK, despite higher computational demands. These results demonstrate the significant potential of QOFDM to improve multimedia communications.