Quantum-Based Resilient Routing in Networks: Minimizing Latency Under Dual-Link Failures

2026-02-04

AI Summary

This work addresses the challenge of optimizing three-layer routing in telecommunications networks to achieve low latency and high resilience under dual-link failures. The problem is formulated as a graph optimization task of finding vertex-disjoint paths. For the first time, the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) is innovatively applied to this domain, with a unified objective function designed to jointly minimize latency and ensure fault tolerance against dual-link failures. Feasibility is demonstrated through experiments on both quantum simulators and real hardware. Evaluations on a 5-node, 7-edge topology—covering both independent and highly correlated failure scenarios—consistently yield optimal solutions, evidenced by the lowest energy states and highest sampling frequencies, thereby validating the effectiveness and practicality of the proposed approach.

Technology Category

• Search and Optimization: Combinatorial Optimization
• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Optimization of Spatio-temporal Systems
• Constraint Satisfaction and Optimization: Constraint Optimization

Application Category

• Graph Algorithms and Modeling for the Web: Foundation models and LLMs for Web-related graphs
• Responsible Web: Human-perceived consequences of algorithmic deployment on the web
• Search and Retrieval-Augmented AI: Web evaluation methodologies and metrics

Abstract

Network optimization problems represent large combinatorial search spaces that grow exponentially with network size, making them computationally intensive to solve. This paper addresses the latency-resilient Layer 3 routing optimization problem in telecommunications networks with predefined Layer 1 optical links. We formulate this problem as a graph-based optimization problem with the objective of minimizing latency, creating vertex-disjoint paths from each site to the internet backbone, and maximizing overall resiliency by limiting the impact of dual-link failures. By framing the problem as finding two disjoint shortest paths, coupled together with a resiliency component to the objective function, we establish a single formulation to produce optimal path design. The mathematical formulation was adapted to solve the problem using quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA) executed over both quantum simulator and quantum hardware. QAOA was tested on a toy graph topology with 5 vertices and 7 edges and considering two limiting scenarios respectively representing independent (uncorrelated) link failures and highly correlated failure for one pair of edges. Both explored scenarios produced the optimal network design-corresponding to the valid solution with highest frequency of occurrence and minimum energy state, hence, validating the proposed formulation for optimizing Layer 3 routing on quantum systems of the future.

Problem

• resilient routing
• dual-link failures
• latency minimization
• network optimization
• vertex-disjoint paths

Innovation

• Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA)
• Resilient Routing
• Dual-Link Failure
• Latency Minimization
• Quantum Network Optimization