Designing a Quantum Network Protocol

TL;DR

This paper introduces a quantum network protocol that enables reliable end-to-end quantum communication despite decoherence and hardware limitations, serving as a foundational building block for future quantum internet services.

Contribution

It presents a scalable quantum data plane protocol designed to operate efficiently with short quantum memory lifetimes and resource-limited hardware.

Findings

Protocol maintains functionality despite significant decoherence.

Simulations show successful end-to-end quantum communication.

Works on hardware with limited resources.

Abstract

The second quantum revolution brings with it the promise of a quantum internet. As the first quantum network hardware prototypes near completion new challenges emerge. A functional network is more than just the physical hardware, yet work on scalable quantum network systems is in its infancy. In this paper we present a quantum network protocol designed to enable end-to-end quantum communication in the face of the new fundamental and technical challenges brought by quantum mechanics. We develop a quantum data plane protocol that enables end-to-end quantum communication and can serve as a building block for more complex services. One of the key challenges in near-term quantum technology is decoherence -- the gradual decay of quantum information -- which imposes extremely stringent limits on storage times. Our protocol is designed to be efficient in the face of short quantum memory lifetimes. We demonstrate this using a simulator for quantum networks and show that the protocol is able to deliver its service even in the face of significant losses due to decoherence. Finally, we conclude by showing that the protocol remains functional on the extremely resource limited hardware that is being developed today underlining the timeliness of this work.