QuNetSim: A Software Framework for Quantum Networks

2023

We present a framework for the unification and standardization of quantum network protocols, making their realization easier and expanding their use cases to a broader range of communities interested in quantum technologies. Our framework is available as an open-source repository, the Quantum Protocol Zoo. We follow a modular approach by identifying two key components: Functionality, which connects real-world applications; and Protocol, which is a set of instructions between two or many parties, at least one of which has a quantum device. Based on the different stages of the quantum internet and use-case in commercialization of quantum communication, our framework classifies quantum cryptographic functionalities and the various protocol designs implementing these functionalities. Towards this classification, we introduce a novel concept of resource visualization for quantum protocols, which includes two interfaces: one to identify the building blocks for implementing a given protocol and another to identify accessible protocols when certain physical resources or functionalities are available. Such classification provides a hierarchy of quantum protocols based on their use-case and resource allocation. We have identified various valuable tools to improve its representation with a range of techniques, from abstract cryptography to graphical visualizations of the resource hierarchy in quantum networks. We elucidate the structure of the zoo and its primary features in this article to a broader class of quantum information scientists, physicists, computer science theorists and end-users. Since its introduction in 2018, the quantum protocol zoo has been a cornerstone in serving the quantum networks community in its ability to establish the use cases of emerging quantum internet networks. In that spirit, we also provide some of the applications of our framework from different perspectives.

科学研究費補助金研究成果報告書, 2019

Scientists have been hard and fast at work attempting to develop the next revolutionary concept that will significantly change the way of data transfer, security, processing speeds, etc. Extensive study in this field has opened the possibilities of quantum physics being used as a basis for improvising the current network and computing systems. The focus as of now is on finding a way to break the classical barrier of limitations. We can, therefore, try to construct a quantum internet using the concepts of quantum computing. Here, we work towards implementing a couple of components of a quantum network, such as a quantum channel and a single layer of quantum intercommunication. Error correction in the network is also illustrated. More specifically, the application layer of the quantum internet model and two protocols of the transport layer are discussed.

Minicursos do XXXVIII Simpósio Brasileiro de Redes de Computadores e Sistemas Distribuídos, 2020

Quantum information, computation and communication, will have a great impact on our world. One important subfield will be quantum networking and the quantum Internet. The purpose of a quantum Internet is to enable applications that are fundamentally out of reach for the classical Internet. Quantum networks enable new capabilities to communication systems. This allows the parties to generate long distance quantum entanglement, which serves a number of tasks including the generation of multiparty shared secrets whose security relies only on the laws of physics, distributed quantum computing, improved sensing, quantum computing on encrypted data, and secure private-bid auctions. However, quantum signals are fragile, and, in general, cannot be copied or amplified. In order to enable widespread use and application development, it is essential to develop methods that allow quantum protocols to connect to the underlying hardware implementation transparently and to make fast and reactive decisions for generating entanglement in the network to mitigate limited qubit lifetimes. Architectures for large-scale quantum internetworking are in development, paralleling theoretical and experimental work on physical layers and low-level error management and connection technologies. This chapter aims to present the main concepts, challenges, and opportunities for research in quantum information, quantum computing and quantum networking.

Software Technologies: Applications and Foundations, 2018

The novel field of quantum technology is being promoted by academia, governments and industry. Quantum technologies offer new means for carrying out fast computation as well as secure communication, using primitives that exploit peculiar characteristics of quantum physics. While building quantum computing devices remains a challenge, the area of quantum communication and cryptography has been successful in reaching industrial applications. In particular, recently, plans for building quantum internet have been put into action and expected to be launched by 2020 in the Netherlands. Quantum internet uses quantum communication as well as quantum entanglement along with classical communication. This makes design of software platform for quantum networks very challenging and a daunting task. Seamless design and testing of platforms for quantum software, thus, becomes a necessity to develop complex simulators for this kind of networks. In this short paper, we argue that using coordination models such as Reo can significantly simplify the development of software applications for quantum internet. Moreover, formal verification of such quantum software becomes possible, thanks to the separation of concerns, compositionality, and reusability of Reo models. This paper introduces an extension of a recently developed simulator for quantum internet (SimulaQron) by incorporating Reo models extended with quantum data and operations, along with classical data. We explain the main concepts and our plan for implementing this extension as a new tool: SimulaQ(reo)n.

2022

Quantum computing is a radical new paradigm for a technology that is capable to revolutionize information processing. Simulators of universal quantum computer are important for understanding the basic principles and operations of the current noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) processors, and for building in future fault-tolerant quantum computers. In this work, we present simulation of universal quantum computers by introducing Psitrum – a universal gate-model quantum computer simulator implemented on classical hardware. The simulator allows to emulate and debug quantum algorithms in form of quantum circuits for many applications with the choice of adding variety of noise modules to simulate decoherence in quantum circuits. Psitrum allows to simulate all basic quantum operations and provides variety of visualization tools. The simulator allows to trace out all possible quantum states at each stage M of an N-qubit implemented quantum circuit. Psitrum software and source codes ar...

arXiv (Cornell University), 2023

Over the past 50 years, conventional network routing design has undergone substantial growth, evolving from small networks with static nodes to large systems connecting billions of devices. This progress has been achieved through the separation of concerns principle, which entails integrating network functionalities into a graph or random network design and employing specific network protocols to facilitate diverse communication capabilities. This paper aims to highlight the potential of designing routing techniques for quantum networks, which exhibit unique properties due to quantum mechanics. Quantum routing design requires a substantial deviation from conventional network design protocols since it must account for the unique features of quantum entanglement and information. However, implementing these techniques poses significant challenges, such as decoherence and noise in quantum systems, restricted communication ranges, and highly specialized hardware prerequisites. The paper commences by examining essential research on quantum routing design methods and proceeds to cover fundamental aspects of quantum routing, associated quantum operations, and the steps necessary for building efficient and robust quantum networks. This paper summarizes the present state of quantum routing techniques, including their principles, protocols, and challenges, highlighting potential applications and future directions.

ArXiv, 2016

Communication is a key part of society that we make huge investments in. Each message has to both arrive quickly and use minimal network resources. Moreover, communications must sometimes also remain private, so encryption is used to prevent third parties from listening in. However, standard classical encryption protocols are proven not to be secure against quantum adversaries. With quantum communication we have a method that does provably attains perfect secrecy, even against adversaries with unlimited (quantum) computational power. It is, however, infeasible to have a direct quantum connection between all users of quantum communications. We thus look into the possibilities of a \emph{quantum network}, which is able to connect arbitrary users of the network as if they had direct quantum channel available. Once such a quantum network is built, we will need to route quantum messages effectively to their destination. In this work, we take the first step in studying network structures ...

IEEE/ACM Workshop on Photonics-Optics Technology Oriented Networking, Information and Computing Systems (PHOTONICS), 2019

This work models metropolitan-scale photonic quantum networks that use time bin encoding for quantum key distribution and quantum state teleportation. We develop and validate theoretical models by comparing them with prior experimental results. We use our newly developed simulator of quantum network communication, called SeQUeNCe, to perform simulations at the individual photon level with picosecond resolution. The simulator integrates accurate models of optical components including light sources, interferometers, detectors, beam splitters, and telecommunication fiber, allowing studies of their complex interactions. Optical quantum networks have been generating significant interest because of their ability to provide secure communication, enable new functionality such as clock synchronization with unprecedented accuracy, and reduce the communication complexity of certain distributed computing problems. In the past few years experimental demonstrations moved from table-top experiments to metropolitan-scale deployments and long-distance repeater network prototypes. As the number of optical components in these experiments increases, simulation tools such as SeQUeNCe will simplify experiment planning and accelerate designs of new network protocols. The modular design of our tool will also allow modeling future technologies such as network nodes with quantum memories and quantum transducers as they become available.

Free-Space Laser Communication and Laser Imaging II, 2002

We describe the status of the NIST Quantum Communication Testbed (QCT) facility. QCT is a facility for exploring quantum communication in an environment similar to that projected for early commercial implementations: quantum cryptographic key exchange on a gigabit/second free-space optical (FSO) channel. Its purpose is to provide an open platform for testing and validating performance in the application, network, and physical layers of quantum communications systems. The channel uses modified commercial FSO equipment to link two buildings on the Gaithersburg, MD campus of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), separated by approximately 600 meters. At the time of writing, QCT is under construction; it will eventually be made available to the research community as a user facility. This paper presents the basic design considerations underlying QCT, and reports the status of the project.