Quantum Internet Architecture: unlocking Quantum-Native Routing via Quantum Addressing

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel quantum internet architecture that leverages entanglement-aware control and quantum-native addressing to enable scalable, efficient quantum networking with a focus on entanglement resource management.

Contribution

It proposes a hierarchical architecture with entanglement-defined control and a quantum addressing scheme, pioneering quantum-native routing and address splitting functionalities.

Findings

Design of a quantum-native routing protocol with scalable compact routing tables.

Introduction of a quantum addressing scheme embedding quantumness into node identifiers.

Development of a quantum address splitting mechanism based on Schrödinger's oracles.

Abstract

The key objective of the Quantum Internet is the distribution and manipulation of entanglement to enable unprecedented applications. This requires a radical departure from classical Internet design principles, such as the end-to-end argument, due to the inherently stateful and non-local nature of entanglement, which demands coordinated in-network operations and persistent state awareness. To this end, we propose a novel hierarchical Quantum Internet architecture centered on the concept of Entanglement-Defined Controller (EDC). This architectural design constitutes the foundational layer, by enabling a clear separation between control and data planes. While necessary, this separation is insufficient to manage entanglement resources, requiring a quantum-native control plane. Consequently, we propose a quantum addressing scheme that embeds quantumness directly into node identifiers, allowing the network to natively track and manipulate entanglement as a dynamic resource. Built upon these two interdependent pillars -- EDC-based architecture and quantum addressing -- we design a quantum-native routing protocol that achieves scalability through compact routing tables, by efficiently operating over entanglement-defined topologies. Finally, we design a quantum address splitting functionality based on Schrodinger's oracles that generalizes classical match-and-forward logic to the quantum domain. Collectively, these contributions demonstrate, for the first time, the fundamental advantages of quantum-by-design network control for enabling scalable quantum networking.