Recursive quantum repeater networks

TL;DR

This paper proposes a unifying recursive quantum network architecture to manage heterogeneous quantum repeater networks, enhancing scalability, resource management, and distributed state generation.

Contribution

It introduces a Quantum Recursive Network Architecture based on classical recursive networks, unifying diverse repeater designs and extending recursive mechanisms to distributed quantum computing.

Findings

Framework applicable to all existing repeater designs

Enables building of complex distributed quantum states

Improves resource management and network scalability

Abstract

Internet-scale quantum repeater networks will be heterogeneous in physical technology, repeater functionality, and management. The classical control necessary to use the network will therefore face similar issues as Internet data transmission. Many scalability and management problems that arose during the development of the Internet might have been solved in a more uniform fashion, improving flexibility and reducing redundant engineering effort. Quantum repeater network development is currently at the stage where we risk similar duplication when separate systems are combined. We propose a unifying framework that can be used with all existing repeater designs. We introduce the notion of a Quantum Recursive Network Architecture, developed from the emerging classical concept of 'recursive networks', extending recursive mechanisms from a focus on data forwarding to a more general distributed computing request framework. Recursion abstracts independent transit networks as single relay nodes, unifies software layering, and virtualizes the addresses of resources to improve information hiding and resource management. Our architecture is useful for building arbitrary distributed states, including fundamental distributed states such as Bell pairs and GHZ, W, and cluster states.