US Patent 7447721 - Quantum optic random number generator

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7447721.html

This patent from ID Quantique teaches a new type of quantum random number generator. Claim 1 reads:

1. An apparatus for generating true random numbers by way of a quantum optic process, the apparatus comprising:

a light source,

a detector array of single-photon detectors, and

electronic circuitry,

wherein the light source produces a beam of photons which propagate along a beam propagation direction to illuminate the detector array, and

wherein a transverse spatial distribution of the detection probability by the detector array of protons is used as a source of randomness so as to generate true random number values which are registered by the electronic circuitry.