Connected and automated vehicles require city-scale coordination under strict latency and reliability constraints. However, many existing approaches optimize communication and mobility separately, which can degrade performance during network outages and under compute contention. This paper presents QIVNOM, a quantum-inspired framework that jointly optimizes vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication together with urban traffic control on classical edge--cloud hardware, without requiring a quantum processor. QIVNOM encodes candidate routing--signal plans as probabilistic superpositions and updates them using sphere-projected gradients with annealed sampling to minimize a regularized objective. An entanglement-style regularizer couples networking and mobility decisions, while Tchebycheff multi-objective scalarization with feasibility projection enforces constraints on latency and reliability.
The proposed framework is evaluated in METR-LA--calibrated SUMO--OMNeT++/Veins simulations over a $5\times5$~km urban map with IEEE 802.11p and 5G NR sidelink. Results show that QIVNOM reduces mean end-to-end latency to 57.3~ms, approximately $20\%$ lower than the best baseline. Under incident conditions, latency decreases from 79~ms to 62~ms ($-21.5\%$), while under roadside unit (RSU) outages, it decreases from 86~ms to 67~ms ($-22.1\%$). Packet delivery reaches $96.7\%$ (an improvement of $+2.3$ percentage points), and reliability remains $96.7\%$ overall, including $96.8\%$ under RSU outages versus $94.1\%$ for the baseline. In corridor-closure scenarios, travel performance also improves, with average travel time reduced to 12.8~min and congestion lowered to $33\%$, compared with 14.5~min and $37\%$ for the baseline.
Connected and automated vehicles require city-scale coordination under strict latency and reliability constraints. However, many existing approaches optimize communication and mobility separately, which can degrade performance during network outages and under compute contention. This paper presents QIVNOM, a quantum-inspired framework that jointly optimizes vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication together with urban traffic control on classical edge--cloud hardware, without requiring a quantum processor. QIVNOM encodes candidate routing--signal plans as probabilistic superpositions and updates them using sphere-projected gradients with annealed sampling to minimize a regularized objective. An entanglement-style regularizer couples networking and mobility decisions, while Tchebycheff multi-objective scalarization with feasibility projection enforces constraints on latency and reliability.
The proposed framework is evaluated in METR-LA--calibrated SUMO--OMNeT++/Veins simulations over a 5×5km urban map with IEEE 802.11p and 5G NR sidelink. Results show that QIVNOM reduces mean end-to-end latency to 57.3ms, approximately 20% lower than the best baseline. Under incident conditions, latency decreases from 79ms to 62ms (−21.5%), while under roadside unit (RSU) outages, it decreases from 86ms to 67ms (−22.1%). Packet delivery reaches 96.7% (an improvement of +2.3 percentage points), and reliability remains 96.7% overall, including 96.8% under RSU outages versus 94.1% for the baseline. In corridor-closure scenarios, travel performance also improves, with average travel time reduced to 12.8min and congestion lowered to 33%, compared with 14.5min and 37% for the baseline.
Connected autonomous vehicles (CAVs) require extensive data processing to make real-time decisions such as obstacle detection, collision avoidance, and route optimization. To enable fast and accurate decision-making in CAVs, services traditionally executed in cloud data centers are being moved to the edge to minimize data transfer from vehicles to the cloud. We present a framework called Q-Edge that utilizes quantum computing at the network edge to improve the speed and effectiveness of data analysis for CAVs. By integrating quantum computing principles such as superposition, entanglement, and teleportation with edge computing, we propose a solution to address the latency and bandwidth issues inherent in traditional cloud computing methods. This approach, leveraging quantum software engineering practices, enables realtime decision-making, optimizing CAV performance and enhancing traffic management, urban mobility, and road safety.
Abstract: The integration of Quantum Artificial Intelligence (Quantum AI) into smart cities represents a transformative leap in traffic management and urban planning. Traditional AI-driven urban systems, while effective, struggle with real-time adaptability, large-scale data processing, and complex optimization challenges. Quantum AI, leveraging quantum superposition, entanglement, and parallel computation, enables cities to optimize traffic flow, infrastructure planning, energy management, and public safety with unparalleled speed and accuracy. This chapter explores how Quantum AI enhances predictive traffic modeling, real-time traffic light synchronization, and autonomous vehicle coordination, reducing congestion and improving mobility efficiency. Additionally, Quantum AI is reshaping urban planning by enabling smart infrastructure development, sustainable resource management, and proactive disaster response systems. Despite challenges such as high computational costs, data privacy concerns, and ethical implications, Quantum AI holds the potential to revolutionize city management, paving the way for resilient, sustainable, and highly adaptive urban environments. The future of smart cities will be defined by AI-powered quantum ecosystems, ensuring seamless urban mobility, enhanced sustainability, and intelligent decision-making for next-generation urban development. Keywords: Quantum AI, smart cities, traffic optimization, urban planning, quantum computing, real-time traffic management, predictive analytics, sustainable urban development, artificial intelligence, autonomous transportation, disaster response, smart infrastructure, quantum-enhanced mobility.
Cooperative platooning can reduce the energy use of Connected and Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) fleets, but the routing problem becomes difficult when vehicles must meet on the same road segments at compatible times while moving through unstable urban traffic. This paper develops an edge-assisted, closed-loop evaluation pipeline for platooning-aware vehicle routing. Roadside Units estimate local traffic kinematics from video, classify segment-level flow stability, and activate platooning rewards only on road segments where close-gap coordination is physically appropriate. The resulting multi-vehicle routing problem is written directly as a Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) model, so pairwise platooning interactions are represented as native quadratic Ising terms instead of requiring auxiliary MILP linearization variables. We evaluate the framework using a 24-hour microscopic SUMO simulation of Troy, NY, together with localized IBM Quantum hardware benchmarks. The SUMO study shows an 18.5% reduction in fleet tractive-energy demand relative to a non-cooperative baseline. On 25-active-qubit benchmark instances executed on $\texttt{ibm_boston}$, Linear-Chain QAOA reduces two-qubit CNOT depth by 66.7% compared with dense QAOA and samples the exact classical ground state with Pfeas=38.6% and Popt=14.2% at p=2. These results suggest that edge perception and shallow quantum optimization can work together as a useful component of closed-loop CAV platoon dispatching.
Vehicular-to-Everything (V2X) communications promise unprecedented safety and efficiency gains but remain vulnerable to confidentiality breaches such as eavesdropping, traffic analysis, and man-in-the-middle attacks. We propose ConfidSPEC-V2X, a focused hybrid framework that integrates continuous-variable quantum key distribution (CV-QKD), a multi-agent deep reinforcement learning (DRL), and an Ethereum-based permissioned blockchainPureChainpublic-key infrastructure (PKI) to deliver information-theoretic secrecy, dynamic traffic obfuscation, and tamper-proof key management. In the quantum module, CV-QKD transceivers embedded in On-Board Units (OBUs) and Roadside Units (RSUs) establish symmetric keys resilient to passive interception and capable of immediate eavesdropping detection. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) module employs multi-agent DRL agents at RSUs to learn optimal dummy-traffic injection policies that obfuscate real V2X message patterns against statistical inference. The blockchain module leverages PureChain smart contracts to register, rotate, and timestamp vehicle public keys, ensuring that any man-in-the-middle attempt to forge or replay keys is invalidated. We implement and evaluate ConfidSPEC-V2X within an OMNeT++/Veins simulation under realistic urban mobility scenarios, measuring the quantum bit error rate, key generation throughput, obfuscation entropy, and key management latency. Results demonstrate that our framework achieves robust confidentiality protection with minimal performance overhead.
The rapid proliferation of autonomous electric vehicles (AEVs) has created unprecedented cybersecurity challenges for vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication systems that are vulnerable to quantum computing attacks and sophisticated adversarial strategies. This research presents a novel hybrid quantum key distribution (QKD) framework specifically designed for high-mobility vehicular environments, integrating satellite-based and terrestrial quantum communication infrastructure with mobile-optimized protocols. We propose the Mobile Quantum Key Distribution (M-QKD) protocol that achieves information-theoretic security while meeting stringent real-time performance requirements of safety-critical automotive applications. Our hybrid architecture combines predictive key pre-distribution algorithms, adaptive error correction mechanisms, and distributed key verification protocols to ensure continuous secure communication even at highway speeds exceeding120km/h. Comprehensive simulation results demonstrate 99.9% security assurance with sub-50 ms communication latencies and 98.5% quantum key distribution success rates under challenging vehicular mobility conditions. The proposed framework represents the first practical quantum-secured V2V communication system capable of providing unconditional security guarantees while maintaining compatibility with existing V2X standards and infrastructure.
Managing contemporary smart cities demands computational capabilities that far exceed what conventional processors can deliver. Traffic signal coordination across hundreds of intersections, real-time balancing of renewable energy grids, and cryptographically securing millions of IoT endpoints each constitute combinatorially hard problems that classical algorithms cannot resolve at urban scale within practical time budgets. This paper addresses these limitations by developing and evaluating a hybrid quantum-classical architecture designed for practical deployment in mid-sized smart cities. Three core technical modules are proposed and validated: a Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA) module for adaptive traffic signal control, a quantum machine learning (QML) module for short-term renewable energy forecasting, and a multi-node Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) architecture for quantum-resilient IoT security. Simulation experiments conducted on IBM Qiskit using realistic urban datasets from Bangalore, India, demonstrate that QAOA-based signal optimization reduces average intersection wait times by 47–53% compared to fixed-timing baselines and executes 4–5× faster than genetic algorithm solvers on equivalent instances. The QML forecasting model achieves 8–12% lower RMSE than classical LSTM networks on solar generation prediction tasks. The QKD-ECC hybrid security framework sustains a 99.9% device authentication success rate while remaining quantum-safe under post-quantum threat models. A phased deployment roadmap tailored for Indian smart cities is provided, alongside a frank assessment of current hardware constraints and practical mitigation strategies. The findings contribute a unified integration blueprint, quantified performance benchmarks on urban data, and evidence-based guidance for cities beginning the transition toward quantum-enhanced infrastructure.