We present an open-source event-driven simulation package called QuISP built on top of the OMNeT++ discrete event simulation framework. Behavior of quantum devices in small quantum networks has been the focus of recent studies, it is still an open question how they will work in networks of practical size. QuISP is designed to simulate large-scale quantum networks to investigate their behavior under realistic, noisy and heterogeneous configurations. Our confidence in the simulator is supported by comparing its output to analytic results for a small network. QuISP can handle thousands of qubits in hundreds of nodes on a laptop computer, preparing for full Quantum Internet simulation. This simulator promotes the development of protocols for larger and complex quantum networks.
We present an open-source event-driven simulation package called QuISP built on top of the OMNeT++ discrete event simulation framework. Behavior of quantum devices in small quantum networks has been the focus of recent studies, it is still an open question how they will work in networks of practical size. QuISP is designed to simulate large-scale quantum networks to investigate their behavior under realistic, noisy and heterogeneous configurations. Our confidence in the simulator is supported by comparing its output to analytic results for a small network. QuISP can handle thousands of qubits in hundreds of nodes on a laptop computer, preparing for full Quantum Internet simulation. This simulator promotes the development of protocols for larger and complex quantum networks.
We present a comparative analysis of two open-source quantum network simulators, QuISP and SeQUeNCe, focusing on cross-validation of basic networking tasks to ensure consistency and accuracy in simulation outputs. Although both simulators are designed to study quantum network management policies and their dynamics under complex noise models, their differing underlying assumptions can lead to variations in simulation results. We highlight the discrepancies in how the two simulators handle connections, internal network node processing time, and classical communication, resulting in significant quantitative and qualitative differences in the time required to perform basic network tasks such as entanglement generation, purification, and swapping. We simulate common scenarios between the simulators to compare both the latency of resource distribution and the fidelity of the distributed resources. Our findings indicate that while the simulators differ in the time required to complete network tasks---a constant factor difference attributable to their respective connection models---they agree on the fidelity of the distributed resources under identical error parameters. This work demonstrates a crucial first step towards enhancing the reliability and reproducibility of quantum network simulations, as well as leading to full protocol development. Furthermore, our benchmarking methodology establishes a foundational set of tasks for the cross-validation of simulators to study future quantum networks.
As quantum networking hardware remains costly and not yet widely accessible, simulation tools are essential for the design and evaluation of quantum network architectures and protocols. However, designing a scalable and computationally efficient quantum network simulator is intrinsically challenging: (i) quantum dynamics must be emulated on classical computing platforms while capturing the stateful and non-local nature of entanglement, a unique quantum resource without any classical networking analog; (ii) moreover, quantum networking is inherently hybrid, as protocol execution also fundamentally depends on classical signaling. This makes a tight and faithful co-simulation of quantum operations and classical message exchanges a core requirement. In this light, we present Q2NS, a modular and extensible quantum network simulator, built on top of ns-3, designed to seamlessly integrate quantum-network primitives with ns-3’s established classical protocol stack. Q2NS adopts a modular architecture that decouples protocol control logic from node- and channel-level operations, enabling rapid prototyping and adaptation across heterogeneous and evolving Quantum Internet scenarios. Q2NS natively supports multiple quantum state representations through a unified plug-in interface, allowing interchangeable state-vector, density-matrix, and stabilizer backends. We validate Q2NS through realistic use-case studies and comprehensive benchmarks, demonstrating superior computational efficiency over representative state-of-the-art alternatives, while preserving modeling flexibility. Finally, we provide a dedicated visualization tool that jointly captures physical and entanglement-enabled connectivity and supports entangled-state manipulations, facilitating an intuitive interpretation of entanglement dynamics and protocol behavior. Overall, Q2NS offers a flexible, open, and scalable simulation platform for advancing Quantum Internet research.
As quantum networking hardware remains costly and not yet widely accessible, simulation tools are essential for the design and evaluation of quantum network architectures and protocols. However, designing a scalable and computationally efficient quantum network simulator is intrinsically challenging: i) quantum dynamics must be emulated on classical computing platforms while capturing the stateful and non-local nature of entanglement, a quantum resource without any classical networking analog; ii) quantum networking is inherently hybrid, as protocol execution also fundamentally depends on classical signaling. This makes a tight and faithful co-simulation of quantum operations and classical message exchanges a core requirement. In this light, we present Q2NS, a modular and extensible quantum network simulator, built on top of ns-3, designed to seamlessly integrate quantum-network primitives with ns-3's established classical protocol stack. Q2NS adopts a modular architecture that decouples protocol control logic from node- and channel-level operations, enabling rapid prototyping and adaptation across heterogeneous and evolving Quantum Internet scenarios. Q2NS natively supports multiple quantum state representations through a unified interface, allowing interchangeable state-vector, density-matrix, and stabilizer backends. We validate Q2NS through realistic use-case studies and comprehensive benchmarks, demonstrating superior computational efficiency over representative state-of-the-art alternatives, while preserving modeling flexibility. Finally, we provide a dedicated visualization tool that jointly captures physical and entanglement-enabled connectivity and supports entangled-state manipulations, facilitating an intuitive interpretation of entanglement dynamics and protocol behavior. Q2NS offers a flexible, open, and scalable simulation platform for advancing Quantum Internet research.
As quantum networking hardware remains costly and not yet widely accessible, simulation tools are essential for the design and evaluation of quantum network architectures and protocols. However, designing a scalable and computationally efficient quantum network simulator is intrinsically challenging: (i) quantum dynamics must be emulated on classical computing platforms while capturing the stateful and non-local nature of entanglement, a unique quantum resource without any classical networking analog; (ii) moreover, quantum networking is inherently hybrid, as protocol execution also fundamentally depends on classical signaling. This makes a tight and faithful co-simulation of quantum operations and classical message exchanges a core requirement. In this light, we present Q2NS, a modular and extensible quantum network simulator, built on top of ns-3, designed to seamlessly integrate quantum-network primitives with ns-3’s established classical protocol stack. Q2NS adopts a modular architecture that decouples protocol control logic from node- and channel-level operations, enabling rapid prototyping and adaptation across heterogeneous and evolving Quantum Internet scenarios. Q2NS natively supports multiple quantum state representations through a unified plug-in interface, allowing interchangeable state-vector, density-matrix, and stabilizer backends. We validate Q2NS through realistic use-case studies and comprehensive benchmarks, demonstrating superior computational efficiency over representative state-of-the-art alternatives, while preserving modeling flexibility. Finally, we provide a dedicated visualization tool that jointly captures physical and entanglement-enabled connectivity and supports entangled-state manipulations, facilitating an intuitive interpretation of entanglement dynamics and protocol behavior. Overall, Q2NS offers a flexible, open, and scalable simulation platform for advancing Quantum Internet research.
The Quantum Internet would likely be composed of diverse qubit technologies that interact through a heterogeneous quantum network. Thus, quantum transduction has been identified as a key enabler of the Quantum Internet. To better study heterogeneous quantum networks, the integration of a quantum transducer component into quantum network simulators has become crucial. In this paper, we extend SeQUeNCe, an opensource, discrete-event simulator of quantum networks, with a quantum transduction component along with auxiliary hardware device models and protocols. Moreover, we explore two strategies for transmitting quantum information between superconducting nodes via optical channels, with a focus on the impact of quantum transduction on the transmission process. The performance of these strategies is analyzed and compared through simulations conducted using SeQUeNCe. Our results align with theoretical predictions, offering simulation-based validation of the strategies and providing a path to accurate, larger-scale simulations of heterogeneous quantum networks.
Along with the rapid development of quantum information technologies, quantum networks that transmit quantum states have gradually shifted from laboratory to reality. However, the high cost of building a quantum network testbed seriously hinders the research progress of quantum networks, and the existing simulators have been developed with less exposure to network models. To overcome those deficiencies, this article proposes a new discrete-event driven network-layer simulation framework named SimQN, available athttps://github.com/ertuil/SimQN,to provide full functionalities of the quantum networking simulation. The design goal of SimQN is to make it easy-to-configure while providing high performance and accurate simulation capability. We present multiple simulation physical backends to enable different functionalities and reduce computational overhead. The modularized SimQN also provides reusable network protocols and utilities to release the large-scale quantum networking evaluation burden. We present several demonstrations and analyses to illustrate the protocol design and the performance of SimQN.