{"id":73215,"date":"2025-10-12T04:41:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-12T04:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/73215\/"},"modified":"2025-10-12T04:41:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-12T04:41:12","slug":"quantum-networks-cisco-software-boosts-classical-tech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/73215\/","title":{"rendered":"Quantum Networks: Cisco Software Boosts Classical Tech"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the drive to make a practical quantum computer<\/a>, researchers are developing bigger and better quantum networks\u2014ones with capabilities that will complement and enhance quantum computing<\/a>. Put another way, building a functioning quantum network that can exchange many qubits<\/a> securely, over long distances, could be a useful end goal completely apart from the quantum-computer race.<\/p>\n

In that vein, Cisco<\/a> launched<\/a> a quantum-networking software system<\/a> on 25 September. The networking giant\u2019s technology could help to bring about more powerful quantum sensors<\/a>, secure position verification<\/a>, and quantum-enhanced imaging tech<\/a>\u2014to list just three of a range of emerging, noncomputing applications<\/a> for quantum networks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The team has a hybrid purpose in mind as well, says Ramana Kompella<\/a>, vice president and head of research at Cisco<\/a> in San Jose, Calif.: quantum networks that can work with classical computers and conventional computer networks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very fascinating field for us because until now, classical computing didn\u2019t have access to a quantum network,\u201d Kompella says. \u201cBut imagine if you had access to a quantum network, what can you actually enable in terms of new capabilities?\u201d Kompella has an answer to his own question. \u201cWe can secure classical networking with the help of quantum signals by detecting eavesdroppers on long-distance fiber-optic<\/a> communications,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

How Does Quantum Entanglement<\/a> Secure Networks?<\/p>\n

To do so, Kompella says, the system relies on the fact that quantum signals shared across their sensitive network are connected together via quantum entanglement<\/a>. \u201cWe inject entangled photons<\/a> into the optical fiber,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd if the attacker tries to tap the fiber, they end up disturbing the entanglement, which allows us to detect them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kompella adds that entanglement exchanged over network distances has other classical computing applications in high-frequency trading<\/a> and fintech<\/a>, \u201cas well as maybe you can drive ultraprecise time synchronization with the help of entanglement-based networks,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Cisco\u2019s quantum-networking system is built on top of a practical quantum-networking chip<\/a> the company introduced in May, which uses existing fiber-optic lines, generates up to 200 million entangled photon pairs per second, and operates at standard telecom wavelengths<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But the new component Cisco recently introduced is software. The compiler the company has now launched enables a coder to write in IBM\u2019s Python-based Qiskit quantum-computer language<\/a>. And the Cisco compiler takes care of technical networking details like optimizing the connections between quantum processors<\/a> and fine-tuning error-correction strategies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hide the physical layer complexity,\u201d says Reza Nejabati<\/a>, Cisco\u2019s head of quantum research, \u201cwhich allows the algorithm developers to play with the number of processors<\/a> and how the processors are connected together to optimize their algorithms.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe compiler takes that high-level goal, breaks it up, and then drives the networking side of the equation,\u201d Kompella adds.<\/p>\n

Hoi-Kwong Lo<\/a>, a professor of electrical and computer engineering<\/a> at the University of Toronto, says that Cisco is championing an underappreciated portion of the larger quantum-technology world.<\/p>\n

\u201cInvestment is a key issue,\u201d Lo says. \u201cWhile there have been billions of research funding annually invested in quantum-computing startups<\/a>, investments in quantum-networking startups have been falling behind.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Ronald Hanson<\/a>, a professor of nanoscience at Delft University of Technology<\/a>, in the Netherlands<\/a>, Cisco\u2019s work is a key next step. But it\u2019s only a next step.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat Cisco is presenting now is not really first of its kind,\u201d Hanson says. \u201cBut the fact that Cisco is working on several of these different elements of the quantum network combined with their classical networking expertise and strengths makes the progress interesting and will push the quantum networking industry as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

What Will It Take for Quantum Networks to Scale?<\/p>\n

The biggest limitation on Cisco\u2019s system at present, says Nejabati, is the physical distance limit that a single photon can travel before being absorbed by the optical fiber<\/a> itself.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur hardware and software technology allows us to\u2026go up to a hundred kilometers with a very-high-quality, high-performance network,\u201d Nejabati says.<\/p>\n

Lo says physics\u2014in particular a law called the \u201cno-cloning theorem<\/a>,\u201d stating that individual quantum bits can never be perfectly replicated\u2014makes large-scale quantum networks especially tricky to realize. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe big challenge is to build quantum repeaters,\u201d Lo says. \u201cOptical fibers are lossy, and to overcome the distance limit, we need quantum repeaters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lo\u2019s group, for one, is investigating encoding a qubit\u2019s signal not onto another individual photon but rather onto a cluster of entangled photons. IEEE Spectrum has tracked Lo\u2019s group\u2019s initial work on this method in 2015<\/a> and their proof-of-principle experimental test in 2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, says Hanson, making quantum repeaters<\/a> isn\u2019t the only way forward for next-generation quantum-networking tech.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust sharing photons is in our mind not the most interesting tech, since many use cases remain out of reach,\u201d Hanson says. \u201cInstead, our goal is to create\u2026entanglement on demand: by combining entanglement distribution via photonic channels with long-lived quantum memories\u2014a buffer of entangled qubits ready to be consumed.\u201d<\/p>\n

This way, Hanson says, quantum entanglement can be stored like energy in a battery or terabits on a hard drive, and tapped into when users on either end of the network want to share quantum information.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuffered entanglement will unlock an interesting range of applications beyond [quantum cryptography<\/a>] that have the promise to bring real value,\u201d Hanson says. \u201cIt will be interesting to see when Cisco will make the step to that technology for their networks.\u201d<\/p>\n

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