Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

ACM Transactions on Reconfigurable Technology and Systems

QiCells: A Modular RFSoC-based Approach to Interface Superconducting Quantum Bits

Richard Gebauer, Nick Karcher, Mehmed Güler, Oliver Sander

Published Dec 26, 2022• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Quantum computers will be a revolutionary extension of the heterogeneous computing world. They consist of many quantum bits (qubits) and require a careful design of the interface between the classical computer architecture and the quantum processor. For example, even single nanosecond variations of the interaction may have an influence on the quantum state. Designing a tailored interface electronics is therefore a major challenge, both in terms of signal integrity with respect to single channels, as well as the scaling of the signal count. We developed such an interface electronics, an RFSoC-based qubit control system called QiController. In this article, we present the modular FPGA firmware design of our system. It features so-called digital unit cells, or QiCells. Each cell contains all the logic necessary to interact with a single superconducting qubit, including a custom-built RISC-V-based sequencer. Synchronization and data exchange between the cells is facilitated using a special star-point structure. Versatile routing and frequency-division multiplexing of generated signals between QiCells and converters are also supported. High-level programmability is provided using a custom Python-based description language and an associated compiler. We furthermore provide the resource utilization of our design and demonstrate its correct operation using an actual superconducting five-qubit chip.

DOI
10.1145/3571820

Related papers

A modular RFSoC-based approach to interface superconducting quantum bits

Richard Gebauer, Nick Karcher, Oliver Sander

Quantum computers will be a revolutionary extension of the heterogeneous computing world. They consist of many quantum bits (qubits) and require a careful design of the interface between the classical computer architecture and the quantum processor. Even single nanosecond variations of the interaction may have an influence on the quantum state. In this paper, we present the modular design of the FPGA firmware which is part of our qubit control electronics. It features so-called digital unit cells where each cell contains all the logic necessary to interact with a single superconducting qubit. The cell includes a custom-built RISC-V-based sequencer, as well as two signal generators and a signal recorder. Internal communication within the cell is handled using a modified Wishbone bus with custom 2-to-N interconnect and deterministic broadcast functionality. We furthermore provide the resource utilization of our design and demonstrate its correct operation using an actual superconducting five qubit chip.

International Conference on Field-Programmable Technology (FPT)•Nov 23, 2021•5 citations

Superconducting qubit readout and control system based on FPGA and development of a pulse sequencer

BOVE, LEONARDO

This thesis presents the development of a superconducting qubit control and readout system based on FPGA technology, with a focus on the design of a pulse sequencer and the integration of frequency-multiplexed control. The system leverages the Quantum Instrumentation Control Kit (QICK), an open-source Xilinx RFSoC-based platform capable of direct digital synthesis and acquisition of microwave signals up to 10 GHz. The QICK firmware was extended to support the simultaneous generation and readout of multiple frequency-multiplexed tones, enabling the control and measurement of several qubits coupled to a shared feedline. This approach optimizes the number of controllable qubits relative to the available ADC and DAC resources on the RFSoC 4x2 board. Furthermore, this work includes the development of Qubase, a Python-based pulse sequencer that allows users to easily define and execute complex sequences of control and measurement pulses through the QICK Python interface. The resulting architecture is both flexible and scalable, providing a foundation for efficient multi-qubit experiments and enabling advanced techniques such as quantum error correction and real-time feedback.

•Sep 27, 2025•0 citations

The Quantum Interface Controller: A Full-Stack, Modular, and Scalable System for Qubit Readout and Manipulation

Luis Eduardo Ardila-Perez, Marvin Fuchs, R. Gartmann +9 more

Quantum computing has the potential to revolutionize computation by solving complex problems in a way that classical computers cannot. However, robust and scalable qubit manipulation and control electronics are needed to exploit this potential. Academic efforts in this area are sparse, especially in terms of scalability to hundreds or thousands of qubits. The mod-ular and scalable Quantum Interface Controller (QiController), a room-temperature qubit control architecture, addresses this gap. It is implemented using the Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture (ATCA) and its dual-dual star topology. The system has two boards: a “Hub” with an AMD Xilinx RFSoC and a “Node” with peripheral FPGAs and DACs for low-latency flux control. This paper describes the system architecture and firmware developments for multi-board synchronization.

IEEE International Conference on Quantum Computing and Engineering (QCE)•Sep 15, 2024•3 citations

RISC-Q: A Generator for Real-Time Quantum Control System-on-Chips Compatible with RISC-V

Junyi Liu, Y.-H. Lee, Haowei Deng +3 more

Quantum computing imposes stringent requirements for the precise control of large-scale qubit systems, including, for example, microsecond-latency feedback and nanosecond-precision timing of gigahertz signals—demands that far exceed the capabilities of conventional real-time systems. The rapidly evolving and highly diverse nature of quantum control necessitates the development of specialized hardware accelerators. While a few custom real-time systems have been developed to meet the tight timing constraints of specific quantum platforms, they face major challenges in scaling and adapting to increasingly complex control demands—largely due to fragmented toolchains and limited support for design automation. To address these limitations, we present RISC-Q—an open-source flexible generator for Quantum Control System-on-Chip (QCSoC) designs, featuring a programming interface compatible with the RISC-V ecosystem. Developed using SpinalHDL, RISC-Q enables efficient automation of highly parameterized and modular QCSoC architectures, supporting agile and iterative development to meet the evolving demands of quantum control. We demonstrate that RISC-Q can replicate the performance of existing QCSoCs with significantly reduced development effort, facilitating efficient exploration of the hardware-software co-design space for rapid prototyping and customization.

arXiv:2505.14902•ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conference (DAC)•Jul 26, 2026•1 citation

The QICK (Quantum Instrumentation Control Kit): Readout and control for qubits and detectors

Leandro Stefanazzi, Kenneth Treptow, Neal Wilcer +14 more

We introduce a Xilinx RF System-on-Chip (RFSoC)-based qubit controller (called the Quantum Instrumentation Control Kit, or QICK for short), which supports the direct synthesis of control pulses with carrier frequencies of up to 6 GHz. The QICK can control multiple qubits or other quantum devices. The QICK consists of a digital board hosting an RFSoC field-programmable gate array, custom firmware, and software and an optional companion custom-designed analog front-end board. We characterize the analog performance of the system as well as its digital latency, important for quantum error correction and feedback protocols. We benchmark the controller by performing standard characterizations of a transmon qubit. We achieve an average gate fidelity of Favg=99.93%. All of the schematics, firmware, and software are open-source.

arXiv:2110.00557•Review of Scientific Instruments•Apr 1, 2022•140 citations

QubiC: An Open-Source FPGA-Based Control and Measurement System for Superconducting Quantum Information Processors

Yilun Xu, Gang Huang, J. T. Balewski +6 more

As quantum information processors grow in quantum bit (qubit) count and functionality, the control and measurement system becomes a limiting factor to large scale extensibility. To tackle this challenge and keep pace with rapidly evolving classical control requirements, full control stack access is essential to system level optimization. We design a modular FPGA (field-programmable gate array) based system called QubiC to control and measure a superconducting quantum processing unit. The system includes room temperature electronics hardware, FPGA gateware, and engineering software. A prototype hardware module is assembled from several commercial off-the-shelf evaluation boards and in-house developed circuit boards. Gateware and software are designed to implement basic qubit control and measurement protocols. System functionality and performance are demonstrated by performing qubit chip characterization, gate optimization, and randomized benchmarking sequences on a superconducting quantum processor operating at the Advanced Quantum Testbed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The single-qubit and two-qubit process fidelities are measured to be 0.99800.0001 and 0.9480.004 by randomized benchmarking. With fast circuit sequence loading capability, the QubiC performs randomized compiling experiments efficiently and improves the feasibility of executing more complex algorithms.

arXiv:2101.00071•IEEE Transactions on Quantum Engineering•Jan 1, 2021•73 citations
Quantum computers will be a revolutionary extension of the heterogeneous computing world. They consist of many quantum bits (qubits) and require a careful design of the interface between the classical computer architecture and the quantum processor. For example, even single nanosecond variations of the interaction may have an influence on the quantum state. Designing a tailored interface electronics is therefore a major challenge, both in terms of signal integrity with respect to single channels, as well as the scaling of the signal count. We developed such an interface electronics, an RFSoC-based qubit control system called QiController. In this article, we present the modular FPGA firmware design of our system. It features so-called digital unit cells, or QiCells. Each cell contains all the logic necessary to interact with a single superconducting qubit, including a custom-built RISC-V-based sequencer. Synchronization and data exchange between the cells is facilitated using a special star-point structure. Versatile routing and frequency-division multiplexing of generated signals between QiCells and converters are also supported. High-level programmability is provided using a custom Python-based description language and an associated compiler. We furthermore provide the resource utilization of our design and demonstrate its correct operation using an actual superconducting five-qubit chip.
Quantum computers will be a revolutionary extension of the heterogeneous computing world. They consist of many quantum bits (qubits) and require a careful design of the interface between the classical computer architecture and the quantum processor. Even single nanosecond variations of the interaction may have an influence on the quantum state. In this paper, we present the modular design of the FPGA firmware which is part of our qubit control electronics. It features so-called digital unit cells where each cell contains all the logic necessary to interact with a single superconducting qubit. The cell includes a custom-built RISC-V-based sequencer, as well as two signal generators and a signal recorder. Internal communication within the cell is handled using a modified Wishbone bus with custom 2-to-N interconnect and deterministic broadcast functionality. We furthermore provide the resource utilization of our design and demonstrate its correct operation using an actual superconducting five qubit chip.
This thesis presents the development of a superconducting qubit control and readout system based on FPGA technology, with a focus on the design of a pulse sequencer and the integration of frequency-multiplexed control. The system leverages the Quantum Instrumentation Control Kit (QICK), an open-source Xilinx RFSoC-based platform capable of direct digital synthesis and acquisition of microwave signals up to 10 GHz. The QICK firmware was extended to support the simultaneous generation and readout of multiple frequency-multiplexed tones, enabling the control and measurement of several qubits coupled to a shared feedline. This approach optimizes the number of controllable qubits relative to the available ADC and DAC resources on the RFSoC 4x2 board. Furthermore, this work includes the development of Qubase, a Python-based pulse sequencer that allows users to easily define and execute complex sequences of control and measurement pulses through the QICK Python interface. The resulting architecture is both flexible and scalable, providing a foundation for efficient multi-qubit experiments and enabling advanced techniques such as quantum error correction and real-time feedback.
Quantum computing has the potential to revolutionize computation by solving complex problems in a way that classical computers cannot. However, robust and scalable qubit manipulation and control electronics are needed to exploit this potential. Academic efforts in this area are sparse, especially in terms of scalability to hundreds or thousands of qubits. The mod-ular and scalable Quantum Interface Controller (QiController), a room-temperature qubit control architecture, addresses this gap. It is implemented using the Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture (ATCA) and its dual-dual star topology. The system has two boards: a “Hub” with an AMD Xilinx RFSoC and a “Node” with peripheral FPGAs and DACs for low-latency flux control. This paper describes the system architecture and firmware developments for multi-board synchronization.
Quantum computing imposes stringent requirements for the precise control of large-scale qubit systems, including, for example, microsecond-latency feedback and nanosecond-precision timing of gigahertz signals—demands that far exceed the capabilities of conventional real-time systems. The rapidly evolving and highly diverse nature of quantum control necessitates the development of specialized hardware accelerators. While a few custom real-time systems have been developed to meet the tight timing constraints of specific quantum platforms, they face major challenges in scaling and adapting to increasingly complex control demands—largely due to fragmented toolchains and limited support for design automation. To address these limitations, we present RISC-Q—an open-source flexible generator for Quantum Control System-on-Chip (QCSoC) designs, featuring a programming interface compatible with the RISC-V ecosystem. Developed using SpinalHDL, RISC-Q enables efficient automation of highly parameterized and modular QCSoC architectures, supporting agile and iterative development to meet the evolving demands of quantum control. We demonstrate that RISC-Q can replicate the performance of existing QCSoCs with significantly reduced development effort, facilitating efficient exploration of the hardware-software co-design space for rapid prototyping and customization.
We introduce a Xilinx RF System-on-Chip (RFSoC)-based qubit controller (called the Quantum Instrumentation Control Kit, or QICK for short), which supports the direct synthesis of control pulses with carrier frequencies of up to 6 GHz. The QICK can control multiple qubits or other quantum devices. The QICK consists of a digital board hosting an RFSoC field-programmable gate array, custom firmware, and software and an optional companion custom-designed analog front-end board. We characterize the analog performance of the system as well as its digital latency, important for quantum error correction and feedback protocols. We benchmark the controller by performing standard characterizations of a transmon qubit. We achieve an average gate fidelity of Favg=99.93%. All of the schematics, firmware, and software are open-source.
As quantum information processors grow in quantum bit (qubit) count and functionality, the control and measurement system becomes a limiting factor to large scale extensibility. To tackle this challenge and keep pace with rapidly evolving classical control requirements, full control stack access is essential to system level optimization. We design a modular FPGA (field-programmable gate array) based system called QubiC to control and measure a superconducting quantum processing unit. The system includes room temperature electronics hardware, FPGA gateware, and engineering software. A prototype hardware module is assembled from several commercial off-the-shelf evaluation boards and in-house developed circuit boards. Gateware and software are designed to implement basic qubit control and measurement protocols. System functionality and performance are demonstrated by performing qubit chip characterization, gate optimization, and randomized benchmarking sequences on a superconducting quantum processor operating at the Advanced Quantum Testbed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The single-qubit and two-qubit process fidelities are measured to be 0.99800.0001 and 0.9480.004 by randomized benchmarking. With fast circuit sequence loading capability, the QubiC performs randomized compiling experiments efficiently and improves the feasibility of executing more complex algorithms.