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arXiv:2405.18785

Adaptable Weighted Token Swapping Algorithm for Optimal Multi-Qubit Pathfinding

Gary J. Mooney

Published May 29, 2024• 0 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Quantum computing promises breakthroughs in simulating and solving complex, classically intractable problems. However, current noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices are relatively small and error-prone, prohibiting large-scale computations. To achieve quantum advantage in this regime, it is crucial to minimise the impact of noise from qubit decoherence and two-qubit gates. A direct approach is to optimise quantum circuit compilation, particularly by improving how circuits are mapped onto hardware. This work targets multi-qubit pathfinding (MQPF), a key subproblem in quantum circuit mapping, formulated as a variant of the token swapping problem. We propose an adaptable algorithm, modelled as a binary integer linear program, that routes $K$ teams of qubits on hardware graphs using swap operations. The algorithm minimises SWAP-gate depth and accumulated gate and idle errors, effectively solving a weighted version of the parallel ($K+1$)-coloured token swapping problem. We benchmark performance across various hardware layouts, comparing runtimes, SWAP depths, gate counts, and errors. Our results show that the proposed MQPF algorithm offers significantly improved runtime scaling and lower accumulated errors over a state-of-the-art exact SMT-CBS-based method. Potential applications include precomputing optimal routing for circuit mappers, benchmarking heuristics, and informing quantum hardware design by analysing pathfinding behaviour.

DOI
10.48550/arxiv.2405.18785

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Abstract In this work we propose a high-quality decomposition approach for qubit routing by swap insertion. This optimization problem arises in the context of compiling quantum algorithms formulated in the circuit model of computation onto specific quantum hardware. Our approach decomposes the routing problem into an allocation subproblem and a set of token swapping problems. This allows us to tackle the allocation part and the token swapping part separately. Extracting the allocation part from the qubit routing model of Nannicini et al. (Optimal qubit assignment and routing via integer programming, 2021, http://arxiv.org/abs/2106.06446 ), we formulate the allocation subproblem as a binary linear program. Herein, we employ a cost function that is a lower bound on the overall routing problem objective. We strengthen the linear relaxation by novel valid inequalities. For the token swapping part we develop an exact branch-and-bound algorithm. In this context, we improve upon known lower bounds on the token swapping problem. Furthermore, we enhance an existing approximation algorithm which runs much faster than the exact approach and typically is able to determine solutions close to the optimum. We present numerical results for the fully integrated allocation and token swapping problem. Obtained solutions may not be globally optimal due to the decomposition and the usage of an approximation algorithm. However, the solutions are obtained fast and are typically close to optimal. In addition, there is a significant reduction in the number of artificial gates and output circuit depth when compared to various state-of-the-art heuristics. Reducing these figures is crucial for minimizing noise when running quantum algorithms on near-term hardware. As a consequence, using the novel decomposition approach leads to compiled algorithms with improved quality. Indeed, when compiled with the novel routing procedure and executed on real hardware, our experimental results for quantum approximate optimization algorithms show an significant increase in solution quality in comparison to standard routing methods.
In Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) era devices, the output fidelity of a quantum circuit, under plausible assumptions, decreases exponentially with its size and depth. As such, optimizing these aspects becomes paramount. This is especially true for sparsely connected physical architectures where added swap gates are essential to meet device connectivity requirements. In this work, we adapt the Approximate Token Swapping (ATS) algorithm, traditionally used for routing qubits, to handle noisy settings by giving priority to specific swap sequences over others. This priority is partially determined by the error rates of the couplings in the qubit connectivity graph. We refer to this algorithm as Priority-ATS (PATS). We provide theoretical justification for PATS's effectiveness over the ATS algorithm and experimentally demonstrate its ability to improve the output state's fidelity. In our simulations, we employ a depolarizing channel to represent two-qubit gate errors, with each neighboring qubit pair having a distinct CNOT gate error rate. By applying realistic error rates, our results prominently highlight an enhanced output fidelity of the quantum circuit when PATS is employed.
The performance of the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) on noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices is strongly limited by sparse qubit connectivity. When interactions required by QAOA Hamiltonians are not aligned to the hardware topology, transpilation introduces SWAP gates, increasing circuit depth and noise. We propose a SWAP-free QAOA framework based on modifying the cost Hamiltonian so that it can be implemented natively on the hardware. We formulate this as a mixed-integer semidefinite program (MISDP) that selects a hardware-compatible approximation of the original cost matrix and optimizes the allocation of logical variables to physical qubits. We prove that the associated decision problem is NP-complete and derive theoretical guarantees relating the MISDP objective to the loss in the original optimization problem through the Lovász number of the hardware graph. Since solving MISDPs is practical only for small instances, we introduce heuristics based on spectral properties of the problem matrix and hardware graph. Our experiments on a cardinality-constrained quadratic optimization model for index tracking show competitive performance against a baseline representing ideal QAOA under SWAP-induced noise. These results indicate that, on sparse NISQ architectures, a hardware-aware approximation of the objective may be more effective than an exact but heavily transpiled Hamiltonian implementation.
Quantum computing has been accumulating tremendous attention in recent years. In current superconducting quantum processors, each qubit can only be connected with a limited number of neighbors. Therefore, the original quantum circuit should be converted to a hardware-dependent circuit, and this process is called qubit mapping and routing, in which typically extra SWAP gates need to be inserted. Due to a limited qubit lifetime, one of the main objectives of qubit mapping and routing is to minimize the circuit depth, which is a time-consuming process. By studying several existing greedy mappers, we extract and analyze two patterns that significantly impact the mapping and routing performance. Then, we propose a sliding window method named SWin, which dramatically reduces the computational cost with negligible performance degradation. For devices with constrained executable circuit depth, we propose SWin+, which introduces adaptive circuit slicing methods with VF2++2+ {+}2++subgraph isomorphism initial mapping methods. Compared with the state-of-the-art greedy methods, SWin can find an effective result by up to 39% depth decrease, on average of 16% for large-scale circuits. Moreover, SWin can be easily modified to be noise-aware, while the depth reduction will yield better performance for real execution. Furthermore, SWin still performs well for various chip couplings. SWin+ significantly enhances processing efficiency, achieving improvements up to$22.3\times $, with an average increase of$6.1\times $. Concurrently, it maintains the effectiveness of the transformed circuit depth.
Quantum computing is gaining momentum in revolutionizing the way we approach complex problem-solving. However, the practical implementation of quantum algorithms remains a significant challenge due to the error-prone and hardware limits of near-term quantum devices. For instance, physical qubit connections are limited, which necessitates the use of quantum SWAP gates to dynamically transform the logical topology during execution. In addition, to optimize fidelity, it is essential to ensure that 1) the allocated hardware has a low error rate and 2) the number of SWAP gates injected into the circuit is minimized. To address these challenges, we propose a suite of algorithms: the Fidelity-aware Graph Extraction Algorithm (FGEA) is used to identify the hardware region with the lowest probability of error, the Frequency-based Mapping Algorithm (FMA) allocates logical-physical qubits that reduce the potential distance of topological transformation, and the Heuristic Routing Algorithm (HRA) searches for an optimal swapping injection strategy. We evaluate the proposed algorithms on the IBM-provided Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) computer, using a dataset consisting of 17 different quantum circuits of various sizes. The circuits are executed on the IBM Toronto Falcon processor. The three proposed algorithms outperform the existing SABRE algorithm in reducing the number of SWAP gates required. Therefore, our proposed algorithms hold significant promise in enhancing the fidelity and reducing the number of SWAP gates required in implementing Quantum algorithms.
Quantum computing promises to solve certain problems more efficiently than classical computation. Realizing this potential on noisy, intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) devices remains challenging. Among other things, hardware connectivity constraints necessitate additional routing operations that degrade circuit fidelity. The qubit mapping problem - assigning logical qubits to physical qubits while minimizing inserted SWAP gates - is thus critical in quantum circuit transpilation. Exact methods scale poorly, and heuristic approaches like the SABRE algorithm, though efficient, rely on local decisions that can miss globally optimal solutions. In this thesis, we propose K-SWAP SABRE that integrates bounded exhaustive search over sequences of up to k SWAPs into the SABRE algorithm. A modified heuristic ensures global progress while maintaining comparability between explored branches. Experiments on benchmark circuits show that increasing k reduces required SWAP gates, especially on highly connected devices, though at the cost of longer runtime. Our results demonstrate that K-SWAP SABRE can improve heuristic qubit mapping quality without sacrificing scalability, offering a practical approach for mapping circuits to near-term and emerging quantum architectures.