The theory and experiment of quantum information have been studied extensively in recent years, and the feasibility of quantum communication has been proved. Although the fundamental technology is not yet mature, research on quantum internet should be conducted. To implement quantum internet, an architecture that describes how quantum nodes are linked to form networks and how protocol functions are vertically composed need to be developed urgently. In this paper, we present a novel design of a cluster-based structure to describe how quantum nodes are interconnected, and how the structure can improve the performance of qubit transmission and reduce the network complexity. The idea of the quantum local area network (QLAN) is proposed as an essential component of the quantum internet. Besides, each quantum repeater links to neighboring repeaters to form a core network, and multiple QLANs are connected through the core network. The core network can be grouped into different hierarchical quantum repeater networks according to needed service requirements. For the sake of interoperability and fast prototyping, we adopt the idea of OSI layering model of the current Internet in the design of quantum internet. Finally, we elaborate on the composition of quantum nodes and the realization of end-to-end communication.
The theory and experiment of quantum information have been studied extensively in recent years, and the feasibility of quantum communication has been proved. Although the fundamental technology is not yet mature, research on quantum internet should be conducted. To implement quantum internet, an architecture that describes how quantum nodes are linked to form networks and how protocol functions are vertically composed need to be developed urgently. In this paper, we present a novel design of a cluster-based structure to describe how quantum nodes are interconnected, and how the structure can improve the performance of qubit transmission and reduce the network complexity. The idea of the quantum local area network (QLAN) is proposed as an essential component of the quantum internet. Besides, each quantum repeater links to neighboring repeaters to form a core network, and multiple QLANs are connected through the core network. The core network can be grouped into different hierarchical quantum repeater networks according to needed service requirements. For the sake of interoperability and fast prototyping, we adopt the idea of OSI layering model of the current Internet in the design of quantum internet. Finally, we elaborate on the composition of quantum nodes and the realization of end-to-end communication.
With the rapid development of quantum information and technology in recent years, the construction of quantum internet for interconnecting all kinds of quantum devices, such as quantum processors and sensors, will be the next trend for practical quantum applications. In this paper, we propose the protocols for construction of connection-oriented and connectionless quantum networks by considering the concrete quantum repeater (QR) nodes. Four classes of QRs networks are considered first and designed with two types of protocols in link layer, i.e. simultaneous and one-by-one link. Based on those two link models, the connection-oriented protocol is presented for all classes of QRs networks and the connectionless protocol is proposed for the first, second and third classes QRs networks by only one-by-one link. Furthermore, we introduce a new hybrid connection model of quantum networks combined with connection-oriented and connectionless for practical uses. Our work is a new attempt to study the model of the network layer for different kinds of QR networks and paves the way for developing the protocol stack of universal large-scale quantum internet.
By using quantum packet transmission technology in large scale quantum communication networks, the throughput of transmission node, network link utilization, and the anti-interference performance of communication can be effectively improved. However, the fast transmission of quantum packets is closely related to the performance of router. The bottleneck of the router performance will seriously affect the scalability of the network and the transmission efficiency of the link. In order to reduce the number of quantum packet queues in nodes of the quantum communication network and to reduce the transmission delay of quantum packets, firstly, according to the classical computer communication network structure, in our paper, we divide the quantum communication network into quantum local area network, quantum metropolitan area network and quantum wide area network. Secondly, the quantum packet format and the quantum cluster format compatible with the packet format in the computer network are determined. Then, a quantum information packet transmission scheme based on the hierarchy is proposed, to realize the end-to-end transmission of quantum information. In our scheme, the quantum packets are divided into quantum packet header information and quantum data information. Quantum dense coding mode is used to transmit the quantum packet header information, while the quantum data information uses quantum teleportation to transmit. First, the quantum packets are sent to the router of the quantum local area network at source address, then the quantum LAN router relay the packets to the quantum metropolitan area network router, the router here makes the quantum packets into quantum cluster according to destination address. Quantum clusters are transmitted in the quantum metropolitan area network and quantum wide area network, ending in the quantum metropolitan area network routing. After the quantum clusters are decomposed, they are sent to the destination address through the local area network router of each quantum packet.We analyze the number of quantum entanglement pairs and the total transmission time in our scheme. The results show that the more the routers by the quantum packet and the quantum cluster are, the more the number of quantum entanglement pairs required by the transmission of a certain quantum packet is. When the number of routers is certain, the number of entanglement pairs required in the transmission process of quantum packet and quantum cluster depends on the number of quantum packets. Finally, the theoretical analysis and calculation are carried out by Matlab simulation, the results show that hierarchical quantum packet information transmission scheme can effectively reduce the transmission time of quantum packet information in the quantum communication network, and the reduced time is related to the quantum router performance and the number of quantum packets to send: the more the number of quantum packets to send, the longer the length of packet processing time needs is and the more obvious the advantage of our scheme is. Therefore, the proposed scheme in this paper is suitable for the construction of large scale quantum communication networks.
The rapid advancement of quantum physical devices is transforming the quantum Internet from theory to practice. To achieve the envisioned full-time and all-location coverage, mobile quantum networks using drones have been proposed as a critical supplement to existing fiber and satellite quantum links, especially in scenarios where traditional optical links are unavailable. Although experiments in drone-based entanglement distribution have been successfully conducted, the field currently lacks a systematic network architecture and a dedicated protocol stack to integrate drone nodes and coordinate complex network functions efficiently. To address this gap, we propose a comprehensive design framework for drone-based quantum entanglement networks. First, we introduce a hierarchical architecture consisting of a quantum backbone relay network and quantum local area access networks. Second, for the local networks, we develop a clustering model based on the classical-quantum combinatorial metric to dynamically select and manage cluster heads. Third, we design a layered protocol stack that modularizes the end-to-end quantum information transmission process into well-defined functional layers. Subsequently, based on this architecture and protocol stack, we present the integrated design of a quantum drone node. Finally, we evaluate the designed network architecture. The results demonstrate that the proposed framework can significantly reduce the network overhead and improve the end-to-end entanglement distribution rate. Our work lays the foundation for the scalable development of mobile quantum networks.
Quantum network is a research topic involving fundamental quantum information science, engineering designs, and experimental implementations. Existing research works primarily pertain to theoretical architecture designs and proof-of-concept experimental demonstrations. With the recent developments in engineering quantum systems, the realization of scalable local-area quantum networks has become viable. However, the design and implementation of a quantum network is a holistic task that is way beyond the scope of an abstract design problem. As such, a testbed on which multiple disciplines can verify the design and implementation across a full networking stack has become a necessary infrastructure for the future development of quantum networks. In this work, we demonstrate the concept of quantum internet service provider (QISP), in analogy to the conventional ISP that allows for the sharing of classical information between the network nodes. The QISP is significant for the next-generation quantum networks as it coordinates the production, management, control, and sharing of quantum information across the end-users of a quantum network. We construct a reconfigurable QISP comprising both the quantum hardware and classical control software. Building on the fiber-based quantum-network testbed of the Center for Quantum Networks (CQN) at the University of Arizona (UA), we develop an integrated QISP prototype based on a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) architecture, whose classical control software is abstracted and modularized as an open-source QISP framework. To verify and characterize the QISP's performance, we demonstrate multi-channel entanglement distribution and routing among multiple quantum-network nodes with a time-energy entangled-photon source. We further perform field tests of concurrent services for multiple users across the quantum-network testbed. Our experiment demonstrates the robust capabilities of the QISP, laying the foundation for the design and verification of architectures and protocols for future quantum networks.
Internet-scale quantum repeater networks will be heterogeneous in physical technology, repeater functionality, and management.The classical control necessary to use the network will therefore face similar issues as Internet data transmission.Many scalability and management problems that arose during the development of the Internet might have been solved in a more uniform fashion, improving flexibility and reducing redundant engineering effort.Quantum repeater network development is currently at the stage where we risk similar duplication when separate systems are combined.We propose a unifying framework that can be used with all existing repeater designs.We introduce the notion of a Quantum Recursive Network Architecture, developed from the emerging classical concept of recursive networks, extending recursive mechanisms from a focus on data forwarding to a more general distributed computing request framework.Recursion abstracts independent transit networks as single relay nodes, unifies software layering, and virtualizes the addresses of resources to improve information hiding and resource management.Our architecture is useful for building arbitrary distributed states, including fundamental distributed states such Bell pairs and GHZ, W, and cluster states.
While quantum communications technology evolves, the promise of a Quantum Internet becomes closer and different proposals to build it have been already proposed, addressing different aspects of what such a global network would imply. We believe a consistent reference architecture model for the Quantum Internet is required to progress in its evolution, addressing the different dimensions such a network has to consider, including the interaction with the "classical" Internet. Such a reference architecture would provide a framework for the integration of the protocols applicable to it, and enable the advance of the applications based on it. As a reference model, it should allow the proposition and analysis of different approaches and solutions, providing a framework to reason about these solutions and their interplay to achieve a global Quantum-enabled open network.Such a model has to satisfy three essential requirements: agility, enabling it to adapt to the evolution of quantum communications base technologies, sustainability, with open availability in technological and economical terms, and pliability, being able to integrate with the operations and management procedures in current networks. This paper describes the reference architecture framework currently being discussed in the QIRG (Quantum Internet Research Group) of IRTF, and intended to provide a conceptual common framework for the integration of the different technology proposals to build the Quantum Internet infrastructure and its convergence with the current Internet. The framework is based on the already extensive experience in the deployment and operation of QKD infrastructures and on recent initiatives focused on the integration of networks and services.