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An Asynchronous Entanglement Distribution Protocol for Quantum Networks

Zhaoying Wang, Jian Li, Kaiping Xue, Shaoyin Cheng, Nenghai Yu, Qibin Sun, Jun Lu

Published Sep 1, 2022• 13 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Entanglement-based quantum networks can provide unconditionally secure communication by distributing entangled pairs between distant end nodes. To achieve end-to-end entanglement distribution, multiple operations of entanglement swapping in a quantum repeater chain are always required. However, due to the non-determinism of entanglement swapping caused by imperfect physical devices, the execution pattern of swapping operations has a direct impact on the performance of entanglement distribution, which can be categorized into an entanglement access control (EAC) problem. In this article, we attribute the EAC problem to two aspects: the matching optimization within quantum nodes, and the swapping conflict avoidance between quantum nodes. Accordingly, we propose an asynchronous entanglement distribution protocol which contains a custom weighted maximum matching algorithm, and a reliable signaling interaction mechanism to avoid a swapping conflict, respectively. Based on the proposed protocol, quantum repeaters autonomously decide their behaviors and spontaneously construct the end-to-end entangled pairs asynchronously. Simulation results show that our protocol can significantly improve the entanglement distribution rate and fidelity of end-to-end entangled pairs while simplifying the deployment and management process of the quantum networks.

DOI
10.1109/mnet.001.2200177

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Entanglement-based quantum networks can provide unconditionally secure communication by distributing entangled pairs between distant end nodes. To achieve end-to-end entanglement distribution, multiple operations of entanglement swapping in a quantum repeater chain are always required. However, due to the non-determinism of entanglement swapping caused by imperfect physical devices, the execution pattern of swapping operations has a direct impact on the performance of entanglement distribution, which can be categorized into an entanglement access control (EAC) problem. In this article, we attribute the EAC problem to two aspects: the matching optimization within quantum nodes, and the swapping conflict avoidance between quantum nodes. Accordingly, we propose an asynchronous entanglement distribution protocol which contains a custom weighted maximum matching algorithm, and a reliable signaling interaction mechanism to avoid a swapping conflict, respectively. Based on the proposed protocol, quantum repeaters autonomously decide their behaviors and spontaneously construct the end-to-end entangled pairs asynchronously. Simulation results show that our protocol can significantly improve the entanglement distribution rate and fidelity of end-to-end entangled pairs while simplifying the deployment and management process of the quantum networks.
Quantum networks create a completely new way for communication, and the most important function of a quantum network is to generate long-distance quantum entanglement to serve a number of quantum applications. As the scale of the network expands, in order to establish end-to-end entanglement between two remote nodes, entangled pairs need to be generated and distributed among multiple repeaters along the path from the source to the destination, which requires a specific protocol to negotiate resource allocations and quantum operations among the repeaters. Thus, to realize such remote entanglement distribution in a quantum network, designing a stable and reliable protocol becomes urgent and necessary. In this article, we focus on how to guarantee the generation rate of entangled pairs between any two quantum nodes to meet the requirements of various quantum applications in a large-scale quantum network. We present a connection-oriented entanglement distribution protocol inspired by the connection-oriented communication model in classical networks. Our protocol is located in the network layer of the quantum network to enable end-to-end quantum communication. Three main features are provided by the proposed protocol: 1) it is reliable and can guarantee the successful entanglement generation; 2) it can reduce the influence of quantum decoherence via reducing the latency caused by resource competition; and 3) it can guarantee the rate of generating entanglement between two quantum nodes according to the requirement of quantum applications.
The primary task of a quantum repeater network is to deliver entanglement among end nodes. Most of existing entanglement distribution protocols do not consider purification, which is thus delegated to an upper layer. This is a major drawback since, once an end-to-end entangled connection (or a portion thereof) is established it cannot be purified if its fidelity (F) does not fall within an interval bounded by Fmin (greater than 0.5) and Fmax (less than 1). In this paper, we propose the Ranked Entanglement Distribution Protocol (REDiP), a connection-oriented protocol that overcomes the above drawback. This result was achieved by including in our protocol two mechanisms for carrying out jointly purification and entanglement swapping. We use simulations to investigate the impact of these mechanisms on the performance of a repeater network, in terms of throughput and fidelity. Moreover, we show how REDiP can easily be configured to implement custom entanglement swapping and purification strategies, including (but not restricted to) those adopted in two recent works.
With the emergence of the Quantum Internet, the need for advanced quantum networking techniques has significantly risen. Various models of quantum repeaters have been presented, each delineating a unique strategy to ensure quantum communication over long distances. We focus on repeaters that employ entanglement generation and swapping. This revolves around establishing remote end-to-end entanglement through repeaters, a concept we denote as the “quantum-native” repeaters (also called “first-generation” repeaters in some literature). The challenges in routing with quantum-native repeaters arise from probabilistic entanglement generation and restricted coherence time. Current approaches use synchronized time slots to search for entanglement-swapping paths, resulting in inefficiencies. Here, we propose a new set of asynchronous routing protocols for quantum networks by incorporating the idea of maintaining a dynamic topology in a distributed manner, which has been extensively studied in classical routing for lossy networks, such as using a destination-oriented directed acyclic graph or a spanning tree. The protocols update the entanglement-link topology asynchronously, identify optimal entanglement-swapping paths, and preserve unused direct-link entanglements. Our results indicate that asynchronous protocols achieve a larger upper bound with an appropriate setting and significantly higher entanglement rate than existing synchronous approaches, and the rate increases with coherence time, suggesting that it will have a much more profound impact on quantum networks as technology advances.
Distributing entanglement between distant nodes is an essential task in quantum networks. To achieve this task, quantum repeaters have been introduced to perform entanglement swapping. This paper offers a design of remote entanglement distribution (RED) protocols that maximize the entanglement distribution rate (EDR). We introduce the concept of enodes, representing the entangled quantum bit (qubit) pairs in the network. This concept enables us to design the optimal RED protocols based on the solutions of some linear programming problems. Moreover, we investigate RED in a homogeneous repeater chain, which is a building block for many quantum networks. In particular, we determine the maximum EDR for homogeneous repeater chains in a closed form. Our results enable the distribution of long-distance entanglement with noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) technologies and provide insights into the design and implementation of general quantum networks.
In quantum networks, one way to communicate is to distribute entanglements through swapping at intermediate nodes. Most existing work primarily aims to create efficient two-party end-to-end entanglement over long distances. However, some scenarios also require remote multipartite entanglement for applications such as quantum secret sharing and multi-party computation. Our previous study improved end-to-end entanglement rates using an asynchronous, tree-based routing scheme that relies solely on local knowledge of entanglement links, conserving unused entanglement and avoiding synchronous operations. This article extends this approach to multipartite entanglements, particularly the three-party Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger (GHZ) states. It shows that our asynchronous protocol outperforms traditional synchronous methods in entanglement rates, especially as coherence times increase. This approach can also be extended to four-party and larger multipartite GHZ states, highlighting the effectiveness and adaptability of asynchronous routing for multipartite scenarios across various network topologies.
Entanglement swapping enables entanglement distribution between distant nodes in quantum networks. This paper aims at designing remote entanglement distribution (RED) protocols to schedule entanglement swapping for maximizing the entanglement distribution rate (EDR). The concept of Enodes is introduced to represent the entangled quantum bit pairs in the network. With such a concept, we can transform the design of the optimal RED protocols into solving certain linear programming problems. In addition, we study RED in the homogeneous repeater chain, which is a basic and critical quantum network. Specifically, we determine the closed-form expression for the maximum EDR in such a setting. Our results will enable the distribution of long-distance entanglement with noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) technologies.