A Modular Quantum Network Architecture for Integrating Network Scheduling with Local Program Execution

2025-03-16

AI Summary

Recent quantum networks face critical challenges including short qubit memory coherence times and difficulty in establishing end-to-end entanglement. Method: This paper proposes an integrated architecture that jointly optimizes network scheduling and local quantum program execution. It introduces the novel abstraction of “entanglement packets” to accommodate finite coherence durations, and designs a fully modular, decoupled framework ensuring hardware independence and independent evolution of components. The architecture integrates discrete-event simulation, dynamic network scheduling, quantum runtime coordination, and robust admission control. Contribution/Results: Evaluated on a six-node star-topology simulated network, the approach significantly improves application-level entanglement establishment success rates. Experimental results confirm the pivotal role of admission control in guaranteeing quality-of-service metrics, establishing a scalable foundational architecture for practical short-range quantum networks.

Technology Category

• Machine Learning: Quantum Machine Learning
• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Scheduling under Uncertainty
• Search and Optimization: Mixed Discrete/Continuous Search

Application Category

• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: Incentives in network design for Web infrastructures and ecosystems
• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Web performance, measurement, and characterization
• Graph Algorithms and Modeling for the Web: Foundation models and LLMs for Web-related graphs

Abstract

We propose an architecture for scheduling network operations enabling the end-to-end generation of entanglement according to user demand. The main challenge solved by this architecture is to allow for the integration of a network schedule with the execution of quantum programs running on processing end nodes in order to realise quantum network applications. A key element of this architecture is the definition of an entanglement packet to meet application requirements on near-term quantum networks where the lifetimes of the qubits stored at the end nodes are limited. Our architecture is fully modular and hardware agnostic, and defines a framework for further research on specific components that can now be developed independently of each other. In order to evaluate our architecture, we realise a proof of concept implementation on a simulated 6-node network in a star topology. We show our architecture facilitates the execution of quantum network applications, and that robust admission control is required to maintain quality of service. Finally, we comment on potential bottlenecks in our architecture and provide suggestions for future improvements.

Problem

• Integrates network scheduling with quantum program execution.
• Defines entanglement packets for limited qubit lifetimes.
• Proposes modular, hardware-agnostic architecture for quantum networks.

Innovation

• Modular architecture integrates network scheduling with quantum programs.
• Defines entanglement packets for limited qubit lifetime networks.
• Hardware-agnostic framework enables independent component development.