IBM and Cisco said they will build a connected network of quantum computers that will look to scale to hundreds of thousands of qubits.
The companies plan to demonstrate multiple networked quantum computers within five years.
Both companies have quantum computing plans first in hybrid quantum-HPC systems and then quantum. IBM's quantum efforts are well known and Cisco has been revving quantum networking efforts.
- IBM launches IBM Quantum Nighthawk processor
- IBM, AMD eye hybrid quantum computing, supercomputer architectures
- Cisco launches quantum lab, unveils quantum networking chip
IBM and Cisco, two classical computing giants, are battling pure play quantum companies that are also investing heavily in networking systems together. For instance, IonQ has acquired multiple startups focused on quantum networking.
See: Quantum computing pure plays duel with giants, rivals
Key points:
- IBM and Cisco plan to design a network of large-scale fault tolerant quantum systems by the early 2030s.
- The companies will demonstrate network quantum systems within five years.
- The quantum network will serve as the base for quantum internet, communications and sensing by the late 2030s.
- IBM is focused on quantum computing with Cisco delivering on networking.
- According to the companies, this quantum network could run with "potentially trillions of quantum gates."
Jay Gambetta, Director of IBM Research and IBM Fellow, said the Cisco partnership works with the company's roadmap. "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," said Gambetta.
Vijoy Pandey, GM/SVP at Outshift by Cisco, said quantum useful scale is about networking as much as compute. "IBM is building quantum computers with aggressive roadmaps for scale-up, and we are bringing quantum networking that enables scale-out," he said.
The networked quantum computing system will aim to entangle qubits from multiple separate quantum computers located in distinct cryogenic environments.
IBM and Cisco will have to create new connections and a supporting software stack that can preserve quantum states, distribute entanglement resources and network systems.
The to-do list for this collaboration is extensive.
- The companies said they will explore how to transmit qubits over longer distances with various optical technologies and transfer quantum information.
- IBM will build a quantum networking unit to be the interface of the quantum processing unit. This quantum networking unit will take stationary information in the QPU and convert it to data that can be networked.
- Cisco will develop a high-speed software protocol that can reconfigure network paths for quantum information.
- The companies will create the hardware and open source software to act as a network bridge.
- IBM will work with the Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center (SQMS) to figure out how many quantum networking units could be used within quantum data centers and demonstrate the connections within the next three years.
In a diagram these networked quantum computers would look like this:
