The rapid advancement of quantum networking technologies requires a robust and scalable control plane to effectively manage the complexities of quantum communication. This paper presents a novel framework designed to enhance the scalability of the control plane in Quantum Internet architectures. The proposed solution integrates a hierarchical control structure that leverages the Border Gateway protocol (BGP) for adaptive slow high level control plane and a fast low control with virtual circuits in the network in or between AS boundaries (external Quantum BGP), ensuring efficient data quantum transmission while minimizing latency. Additionally, we implement a decentralized approach that enables individual AS to make localized decisions (using quantum control over MPLS, RuleSet, Segment Routing, SDN, etc), thus reducing the burden on central controllers. This work provides a foundational step towards realizing a scalable and efficient Quantum Internet, paving the way for future research and development in quantum communication systems.
The rapid advancement of quantum networking technologies requires a robust and scalable control plane to effectively manage the complexities of quantum communication. This paper presents a novel framework designed to enhance the scalability of the control plane in Quantum Internet architectures. The proposed solution integrates a hierarchical control structure that leverages the Border Gateway protocol (BGP) for adaptive slow high level control plane and a fast low control with virtual circuits in the network in or between AS boundaries (external Quantum BGP), ensuring efficient data quantum transmission while minimizing latency. Additionally, we implement a decentralized approach that enables individual AS to make localized decisions (using quantum control over MPLS, RuleSet, Segment Routing, SDN, etc), thus reducing the burden on central controllers. This work provides a foundational step towards realizing a scalable and efficient Quantum Internet, paving the way for future research and development in quantum communication systems.
Entangled quantum communication is advancing rapidly, with laboratory and metropolitan testbeds under development, but to date there is no unifying Quantum Internet architecture. We propose a Quantum Internet architecture centered around the Quantum Recursive Network Architecture (QRNA), using RuleSet-based connections established using a two-pass connection setup. Scalability and internetworking (for both technological and administrative boundaries) are achieved using recursion in naming and connection control. In the near term, this architecture will support end-to-end, two-party entanglement on minimal hardware, and it will extend smoothly to multiparty entanglement and the use of quantum error correction on advanced hardware in the future. For a network internal gateway protocol, we recommend (but do not require) qDijkstra with seconds per Bell pair as link cost for routing; the external gateway protocol is designed to build recursively. The strength of our architecture is shown by assessing extensibility and demonstrating how robust protocol operation can be confirmed using the RuleSet paradigm.
Large-scale quantum networks with thousands of nodes require topology-oblivious routing protocols to realize. Most existing quantum network routing protocols only consider the intra-domain scenario, where all nodes belong to a single party with complete topology knowledge. However, like the classical Internet, quantum Internet will likely be provided by multiple quantum Internet Service Providers (qISPs). In this paper, we consider the inter-domain scenario, where the network consists of multiple subnetworks owned by mutually untrusted parties without centralized control. Under this setting, previously proposed quantum entanglement routing policies, which rely on the network topology knowledge, are no longer applicable. We propose a Quantum Border Gateway Protocol (QBGP) for efficiently routing entanglement across qISP boundaries. To guarantee high-quality information transmission, we propose an algorithm named online top-K path selection. This algorithm utilizes the information gain introduced in this paper to adaptively decide on measurement parameters, allowing for the selection of high-fidelity paths and accurate fidelity estimates, while minimizing costs. Additionally, we implement a quantum network simulator and evaluate our protocol and algorithm. Our evaluation shows that QBGP effectively distributes entanglement across different qISPs, and our path selection algorithm increases the network performance by selecting high-fidelity paths with much lower resource consumption than other methods.
Quantum networks are expected to enable distributed quantum computing, secure communication, and global entanglement distribution. However, operating such networks presents significant challenges, including stochastic quantum processes, fragile entanglement resources, dynamic topology, and cross-layer control requirements. Current quantum network control architectures largely rely on centralized or hierarchical controllers inspired by classical software-defined networking (SDN). While effective for small testbeds, these approaches face scalability, latency, and reliability limitations as quantum networks grow.
The creation of the future quantum Internet requires the development of new systems, architectures, and communications protocols. As a matter of fact, the optical fiber technology is affected by extremely high losses; thus, the deployment of a quantum satellite network (QSN) composed of quantum satellite repeaters (QSRs) in low Earth orbit would make it possible to overcome these attenuation problems. For these reasons, we consider the design of an ad hoc quantum satellite backbone based on the Software-Defined Networking (SDN) paradigm with a modular two-tier Control Plane (CP). The first tier of the CP is embedded into a Master Control Station (MCS) on the ground, which coordinates the entire constellation and performs the management of the CP integrated into the constellation itself. This second tier is responsible for entanglement generation and management on the selected path. In addition to defining the SDN architecture in all its components, we present a possible protocol to generate entanglement on the end-to-end (E2E) path. Furthermore, we evaluate the performance of the developed protocol in terms of the latency required to establish entanglement between two ground stations connected via the quantum satellite backbone.
This paper proposes a novel approach to network routing leveraging the unique properties of quantum entanglement. Traditional network routing relies on physical distances and delays, presenting inherent limitations in bandwidth and latency. This research posits that quantum entanglement can be harnessed to overcome these constraints, enabling ultra-high bandwidth and low-latency data routing. The core concept involves constructing a "quantum network" composed of entangled qubits, enabling efficient data transmission and routing via precise control of the entangled states. We explore and develop algorithms designed to minimize entanglement loss and latency, crucial factors in realizing the full potential of this technology. The theoretical framework presented here introduces a fundamentally new paradigm for network architecture, moving beyond classical constraints and towards a quantum-enhanced communication infrastructure. The primary focus is on the theoretical design and optimization of routing protocols specifically tailored for entangled quantum networks. We outline a methodology for simulating and optimizing quantum routing algorithms, acknowledging the challenges associated with decoherence and entanglement degradation. This work establishes a foundation for future research and development in quantum networking and routing.
The key objective of the Quantum Internet is the distribution and manipulation of entanglement to enable unprecedented applications. This requires a radical departure from classical Internet design principles, such as the end-to-end argument, due to the inherently stateful and non-local nature of entanglement, which demands coordinated in-network operations and persistent state awareness. To this end, we propose a novel hierarchical Quantum Internet architecture centered on the concept ofEntanglement-Defined Controller(EDC). This architectural design constitutes the foundational layer, by enabling a clear separation between control and data planes. While necessary, this separation is insufficient to manage entanglement resources, requiring aquantum-native control plane. Consequently, we propose aquantum addressing schemethat embeds quantumness directly into node identifiers, allowing the network to natively track and manipulate entanglement as a dynamic resource. Built upon these two interdependent pillars – EDC-based architecture and quantum addressing – we design aquantum-native routing protocolthat achieves scalability through compact routing tables, by efficiently operating over entanglement-defined topologies. Finally, we design aquantum address splittingfunctionality based on Schrödinger’s oracles that generalizes classical match-and-forward logic to the quantum domain. Collectively, these contributions demonstrate, for the first time, the fundamental advantages of quantum-by-design network control for enabling scalable quantum networking.