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IEEE Symposium on Reliable Distributed Systems (SRDS)

PhD Forum: Evaluating and Designing Routing Protocols for Reliable Distributed Quantum Systems

Huzaifah Nadeem

Published Sep 30, 2024• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

As quantum computers and quantum networks become more capable, it allows for the possibility to use multiple quantum computers as part of a distributed system. Such a distributed system will have applications such as running quantum algorithms in a distributed fashion [7], leadership elections without communication [7], clock synchronisation [10], and a cryptographic protocol called quantum key distribution [1], etc. However, to create a reliable system, it is important that the underlying quantum network can reliably support the necessary communication protocols between quantum nodes. To support reliable communication in a quantum network, quantum routing algorithms - which are algorithms that plan out how to send qubits and over which subset of nodes in the network - is an active area of research. However, various design choices and algorithms exist that are developed without a realistic simulated environment that can provide rich data that can further help develop, improve, and test these algorithms. Such an environment is important because general-purpose algorithms need to take into account detailed information about how the qubit changes over the communication process - as that requirement can vary for different applications - rather than simpler probability based loss models existing algorithms were developed with. Using existing lower-level tools, we are creating a tool will help evaluate and design routing protocol by providing a variety of models - from simple to complex - to support various stages of development, as well as the ability to generate useful data to evaluate how the protocols perform in a realistic quantum network.

DOI
10.1109/srds64841.2024.00041

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As quantum computers and quantum networks become more capable, it allows for the possibility to use multiple quantum computers as part of a distributed system. Such a distributed system will have applications such as running quantum algorithms in a distributed fashion [7], leadership elections without communication [7], clock synchronisation [10], and a cryptographic protocol called quantum key distribution [1], etc. However, to create a reliable system, it is important that the underlying quantum network can reliably support the necessary communication protocols between quantum nodes. To support reliable communication in a quantum network, quantum routing algorithms - which are algorithms that plan out how to send qubits and over which subset of nodes in the network - is an active area of research. However, various design choices and algorithms exist that are developed without a realistic simulated environment that can provide rich data that can further help develop, improve, and test these algorithms. Such an environment is important because general-purpose algorithms need to take into account detailed information about how the qubit changes over the communication process - as that requirement can vary for different applications - rather than simpler probability based loss models existing algorithms were developed with. Using existing lower-level tools, we are creating a tool will help evaluate and design routing protocol by providing a variety of models - from simple to complex - to support various stages of development, as well as the ability to generate useful data to evaluate how the protocols perform in a realistic quantum network.
A network of devices capable of transmitting quantum information called a quantum network has promising applications with vast benefits. One of the most near term achievable application is the quantum key distribution. It could be used for sharing a secret key between two end-users through any insecure authenticated communication channel. Other than sharing a secret key, a quantum network can be used for connecting quantum computers. Quantum computers have the potential to solve computational problems that their classical counterparts would require significantly more time to do so. By connecting such devices, distributed computation problems such as leader election or distributed consensus between nodes can be solved securely. For such applications to be put into practice on a large scale, there are open practical questions still to be answered. In a quantum network, a data qubit containing quantum information is transmitted by an operation called quantum teleportation. For it, two nodes need to share entanglement. Quantum teleportation then ensures the safe transmission of a qubit by using the shared entanglement and the exchange of two classical bits. This operation, however, consumes entanglement between the nodes, changing the network topology with each served request. In quantum networks, certain nodes share entanglement between each other. Routing in quantum networks entails determining which of these shared entanglements are used to transmit quantum information. As this proves to be a difficult task, we study quantum networks and in particular consider the problem of routing entanglement in quantum networks. The average latency for routing entanglement in a quantum network has been studied so far using a distributed routing approach. Thus, we present numerical simulation results of centralised routing for the average latency of demands in two existing entanglement generation models. In the first, shared entanglement between nodes is created on-demand. In the second, certain nodes pre-share entanglement before the demand comes. Our results show the intuition that using a centralised routing approach in the on-demand model results in drastically more average latency than in the model with pre-shared entanglement. Since some nodes might not be informed about the change in topology, we study the effect of the propagation of information about the network topology to nodes in the network. Our observations based on simulation results show that the average latency is significantly higher if the information about the topology is not propagated well in the network. As propagating information to all nodes in a network would be a significant load for the network, we consider information propagation within a radius and still observe a considerable decrease in average latency. At last, we present a technique called link prediction which can be performed by any node without the need for information propagation and still achieve a considerable decrease in average latency. It can be effectively used to predict the change of topology in a quantum network by using knowledge about the network topology for a certain future point in time and previous knowledge about the network traffic.
Quantum networks are gaining momentum in finding applications in a wide range of domains. However, little research has investigated the potential of a quantum network framework to enable highly reliable communications. The goal of this work is to investigate and design the multiple-entanglement routing framework, namely k-entangled routing. In particular, the kkk-entangled routing will enable k paths connecting all demands (source-destination pairs) in the network. To design the kkk-entangled routing, we propose two algorithms that are called Sequential Multi-path Scheduling Algorithm and Min-Cut-based Multi-path Scheduling Algorithm. In addition, we evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms and models through a realistic quantum network simulator, NetSquid, that models the stochastic processes underlying quantum communications. The results show that the proposed algorithms (SMPSA and MCSA) largely enhance the network's traffic flexibility. The proposed paradigms would lay the foundation for further research on the area of entanglement routing.
Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) is a foundational method for the secure generation and distribution of cryptographic keys between network nodes, relying on quantum mechanical principles to provide information-theoretic security. As quantum computing continues to advance, the development of quantum communication networks requires the implementation of complex and secure architectures. However, the deployment of such networks demands considerable financial, technical, and human resources. In this context, simulation tools are essential, as they enable researchers to validate theoretical models, optimize network design, and identify potential vulnerabilities without the need for costly physical infrastructure. The goal of the research was to evaluate the efficiency and accuracy of QNET simulation tool by comparing the outcomes of developed simulation models with empirical data from real QKD networks. While the results in some cases closely aligned indicating a high level of accuracy in modeling QKD networks noticeable discrepancies were observed in certain scenarios. Such an approach not only facilitates more accurate modeling and planning but also promotes the development of scalable, cost effective, and secure quantum communication systems.
Quantum networks enable a number of important applications such as quantum key distribution. The basic function of a quantum network is to enable long-distance quantum entanglement between two remote communication parties. This work focuses on the entanglement routing problem, whose objective is to build long-distance entanglements for the concurrent source-destination pairs through multiple hops. Different from existing works that analyzes the traditional routing techniques on special network topologies, we present a comprehensive entanglement routing model that reflects the differences between quantum networks and classical networks and new entanglement routing algorithms that utilize the unique properties of quantum networks. Evaluation results show that the proposed algorithm Q-CAST increases the number of successful long-distance entanglements by a big margin compared to other methods. The model and simulator developed by this work may encourage more network researchers to study the entanglement routing problem.
As research in quantum key distribution network technologies grows larger and more complex, the need for highly accurate and scalable simulation technologies becomes important to assess the practical feasibility and foresee difficulties in the practical implementation of theoretical achievements. In this paper, we described the design of simplified simulation environment of the quantum key distribution network with multiple links and nodes. In such simulation environment, we analyzed several routing protocols in terms of the number of sent routing packets, goodput and Packet Delivery Ratio of data traffic flow using NS-3 simulator.
Quantum entanglement enables important computing applications such as quantum key distribution. Based on quantum entanglement, quantum networks are built to provide long-distance secret sharing between two remote communication parties. Establishing a multi-hop quantum entanglement exhibits a high failure rate, and existing quantum networks rely on trusted repeater nodes to transmit quantum bits. However, when the scale of a quantum network increases, it requires end-to-end multi-hop quantum entanglements in order to deliver secret bits without letting the repeaters know the secret bits. This work focuses on the entanglement routing problem, whose objective is to build long-distance entanglements via untrusted repeaters for concurrent source-destination pairs through multiple hops. Different from existing work that analyzes the traditional routing techniques on special network topologies, we present a comprehensive entanglement routing model that reflects the differences between quantum networks and classical networks as well as a new entanglement routing algorithm that utilizes the unique properties of quantum networks. Evaluation results show that the proposed algorithm Q-CAST increases the number of successful long-distance entanglements by a big margin compared to other methods. The model and simulator developed by this work may encourage more network researchers to study the entanglement routing problem.