In the drive to build a practical quantum computer, researchers are developing bigger and better quantum networks – with capabilities that will complement and enhance quantum computing. Put differently, building a working quantum network that can safely exchange many qubits over long distances could be a useful end goal entirely separate from the quantum computer race.
In that vein, Cisco launched A quantum networking software system on September 25. The networking giant’s technology could help bring more powerful quantum sensors, secure status verificationand quantum-enhanced imaging technology – to list just three of these A range of emerging, non-computing applications For quantum networks.
Says the team also has a mixed objective in mind Ramana KompelaVice President and Head of Research cisco In San Jose, California: Quantum networks that can work with classical computers and traditional computer networks.
“This is a very fascinating area for us because until now classical computing has not had access to quantum networks,” says Kompela. “But imagine if you had access to a quantum network, what could you really enable in terms of new capabilities?” Ofompela has one reply to His own question. “We can secure classical networking with the help of quantum signals by detecting eavesdroppers on long-distance fiber optic communications,” he says.
How does quantum entanglement secure networks?
To do this, Kompela says, the system relies on the fact that the quantum signals shared in their sensing networks are linked together through quantum entanglement. “We inject entangled photons into the optical fiber,” he says. “And if the attacker tries to tap the fiber, they distort the entanglement, allowing us to detect them.”
Kompela says entanglements exchanged over network distances have other classical computing applications in high-frequency trading and fintech, “as well as maybe you can run ultra-precise time synchronization with the help of entanglement-based networks,” he says.
Cisco’s quantum networking system is built on top of? Practical Quantum Networking Chip The company introduced in May, which uses existing fiber optic lines, generates 200 million entangled photon pairs per second, and works standard telecommunication wavelength,
But the new component that Cisco has recently introduced is software. The compiler that the company has now launched enables a coder to write in IBM’s Python-based Kiskit quantum computer language. And the Cisco compiler takes care of technical networking details such as optimizing connections between quantum processors and fine-tuning error correction strategies.
“We hide the complexity of the physical layer,” says Reza NejabtiHead of quantum research at Cisco. “Which allows algorithm developers to play with the number of processors and how the processors are linked together to optimize their algorithms.”
“The compiler takes that high-level goal, breaks it down, and then runs the networking side of the equation,” says Kompela.
hoi-kwang loa professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto in Canada, says Cisco is supporting an underappreciated part of the big quantum technology world.
“Investment is a key issue,” says Lo. “While billions of research funds are invested annually in quantum computing start-ups, investment in quantum networking start-ups is lagging.”
according to ronald hansona professor of Nanoscience at Delft University of Technology In the Netherlands, Cisco’s work is an important next step. But this is only the next step.
“What Cisco is introducing now is really not the first of its kind,” says Hanson. “But the fact that Cisco is working on these different elements of quantum networks, combined with its classical networking expertise and strengths, makes the progress interesting and will advance the quantum networking industry as a whole.”
What will it take to scale quantum networks?
Nejabati says the biggest limitation of Cisco’s system currently is the limit of physical distance a photon can travel before being absorbed by the optical fiber.
“Our hardware and software technology allows us to go … hundreds of kilometers with a very high quality, high performance network,” says Nejabati.
Take physics – specifically a law called “No-cloning theorem”That said, individual quantum bits can never be replicated perfectly – making large-scale quantum networks particularly difficult to understand.
“Making quantum repeaters is a big challenge,” says Lo. “Optical fibers are lossy, and to overcome the distance limit, we need quantum repeaters.”
Lo’s group, for one, is investigating encoding a qubit’s signal not on another individual photon but on a group of entangled photons. ieee spectrum Initial work by Lo’s group on this method in 2015 and proof-of-principle experimental testing in 2019 have tracked.
On the other hand, Hanson says, building quantum repeaters isn’t the only way forward for next-generation quantum networking technology.
“Just sharing photons is not the most interesting technology in our minds because many use cases are out of reach,” says Hanson. “Instead, our goal is to … create entanglement on demand: by combining entanglement distribution via photonic channels with long-lived quantum memories – a buffer of entangled qubits that is ready for consumption.”
This way, Hanson says, quantum entanglement can be stored like energy in a battery or terabits of energy on a hard drive, and used when users at either end of the network want to share quantum information.
“Buffered entanglement will unlock an interesting range of applications beyond[quantum cryptography]that promise to bring real value,” says Hanson. “It will be interesting to see when Cisco will move toward that technology for its own networks.”
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