IBM and Cisco are partnering on the groundwork for networked distributed quantum computing, to be realized as soon as the early 2030s.
By combining IBM’s leadership in building useful quantum computers with Cisco’s quantum networking innovations, the companies plan to explore how to scale large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers beyond IBM’s ambitious roadmap. Additionally, they will work to solve fundamental challenges towards a quantum computing internet, according to the companies.
Within five years, IBM and Cisco will aim to demonstrate the first proof-of-concept for a network that combines individual, large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers, enabling them to work together to run computations over tens to hundreds of thousands of qubits.
This network would allow problems to be run with potentially trillions of quantum gates, the fundamental entangling operations required for transformative quantum applications such as massive optimization problems, or the design of complex materials and medicines.
“At IBM, our roadmap includes plans to deliver large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers before the end of the decade,” said Jay Gambetta, director of IBM research and IBM fellow. “By working with Cisco to explore how to link multiple quantum computers like these together into a distributed network, we will pursue how to further scale quantum’s computational power. And as we build the future of compute, our vision will push the frontiers of what quantum computers can do within a larger high-performance computing architecture.”
The Cisco vision for a quantum data center introduces an architecture for quantum networking infrastructure that could make distributed quantum computing a reality soon. This vision includes a complete hardware and software stack that aims to preserve fragile quantum states, distribute entanglement resources, facilitate teleportation between quantum computers, and synchronize operations with sub-nanosecond precision.
Toward this vision, IBM is also working with the Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center (SQMS), led by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, in its role as a member of four of the U.S. Department of Energy National Quantum Information Science and Research Centers. Together, IBM and SQMS intend to investigate how many QNUs could be used within quantum data centers, and they are planning an initial demonstration of multiple connected QPUs within the next three years.
Building a distributed and scalable quantum computing network will create a pathway toward an exponentially large computational space and enable the expansion of diverse technologies, which could begin to form a future quantum computing internet by the late 2030s, the vendors said.
A quantum computing internet provides a future where many distributed quantum-based technologies, such as quantum computers, quantum sensors, and quantum communications are connected and share information across distances, such as a metro region and eventually, at a planetary scale. This bold vision could facilitate new possibilities such as ultra-secure communications, or precise monitoring of climate, weather, and seismic activity.
As another part of their current intention to collaborate, IBM and Cisco plan to co-fund academic research and collaborative projects to advance the broader quantum ecosystem, following a long history of fostering research in academic and national labs.
"Getting quantum computing to useful scale is not just about building bigger individual machines, it is also about connecting them together,” said Vijoy Pandey, GM/SVP at Outshift by Cisco. “IBM is building quantum computers with aggressive roadmaps for scale-up, and we are bringing quantum networking that enables scale-out. Together, we are solving this as a complete system problem, including the hardware to connect quantum computers, the software to run computations across them, and the networking intelligence that makes them work."
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