Effects of Quantum Communication in Large-Scale Networks at Minimum Latency

TL;DR

This paper compares quantum and classical communication architectures in a large-scale, mobile robotic factory, analyzing their capacity scaling and latency implications under realistic mobility and connection assumptions.

Contribution

It introduces a model for large-scale quantum communication networks with mobile robots, analyzing capacity scaling without fixed frequency assignments.

Findings

Quantum communication can improve capacity scaling in large networks.

Mobility and dynamic frequency allocation significantly affect latency.

Quantum architectures outperform classical ones in capacity under certain conditions.

Abstract

Quantum communication technology offers several advanced strategies. However, their practical use is often times not yet well understood. In this work we therefore analyze the concept of a futuristic large-scale robotic factory, where each robot has a computing unit associated to it. The computing unit assists the robot with large computational tasks that have to be performed in real-time. Each robot moves randomly in a vicinity of its computing unit, and in addition both the robot and the unit can change location. To minimize latency, the connection is assumed as optical wireless. Due to the mobility, a permanent optimal assignment of frequency bands is assumed to increase communication latency and is therefore ruled out. Under such assumptions, we compare the different capacity scaling of different types of such architectures, where the one is built utilizing quantum communication techniques, and the other based on conventional design methods.