IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) have announced their intention to collaborate on the foundational architecture for networked distributed quantum computing, targeting realization as soon as the early 2030s. The partnership aims to combine IBM’s quantum computing expertise with Cisco’s quantum networking innovations to explore how to scale large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers beyond current roadmaps.
The collaboration outlines a phased approach:
- Initial Milestone (Within Five Years): Demonstrate the first proof-of-concept for a network that combines individual, large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computers, enabling them to run computations over tens to hundreds of thousands of qubits.
- Technical Challenges: The companies plan to invent new connections, including microwave-optical transducers and a supporting software stack, to entangle qubits from multiple separate quantum computers located in distinct cryogenic environments.
- Interface: IBM plans to build a Quantum Networking Unit (QNU) to serve as the interface between the Quantum Processing Unit (QPU) and the network, converting stationary quantum information into “flying” quantum information.
Cisco’s vision for a quantum data center architecture involves distributing entanglement resources to arbitrary pairs of QNUs on an on-demand basis. Cisco is developing a high-speed software protocol framework to dynamically reconfigure network paths and distribute entanglements as required by a given quantum algorithm. This network is intended to facilitate massively computationally demanding workloads within a quantum-centric supercomputing framework.
The long-term vision is for this distributed network to form the groundwork for a quantum computing internet by the late 2030s, connecting quantum computers, quantum sensors, and quantum communications at a planetary scale. IBM is also collaborating with the Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center (SQMS), led by Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, to investigate how many QNUs could be used within quantum data centers.
