Qubits through Queues: The Capacity of Channels with Waiting Time Dependent Errors

TL;DR

This paper analyzes the capacity limits of quantum communication channels modeled as queues, revealing optimal arrival rates and processing times for maximizing information transmission in quantum systems.

Contribution

It introduces a queue-based model for quantum channels with decoherence, deriving explicit capacity expressions and identifying optimal queue parameters for quantum information transfer.

Findings

Existence of a 'sweet-spot' arrival rate maximizing capacity

Deterministic processing times optimize channel capacity

Explicit capacity formulas for queue-channel models

Abstract

We consider a setting where qubits are processed sequentially, and derive fundamental limits on the rate at which classical information can be transmitted using quantum states that decohere in time. Specifically, we model the sequential processing of qubits using a single server queue, and derive explicit expressions for the capacity of such a `queue-channel.' We also demonstrate a sweet-spot phenomenon with respect to the arrival rate to the queue, i.e., we show that there exists a value of the arrival rate of the qubits at which the rate of information transmission (in bits/sec) through the queue-channel is maximized. Next, we consider a setting where the average rate of processing qubits is fixed, and show that the capacity of the queue-channel is maximized when the processing time is deterministic. We also discuss design implications of these results on quantum information processing systems.