Researchers from the Quantum Internet Alliance (QIA) at TU Delft/QuTech, with the University of Innsbruck, INRIA and CNRS, have developed the first operating system for quantum networks, QNodeOS. Their research, published in Nature, marks an important step in the transformation of quantum networks from a theoretical concept to a practical technology that could revolutionise the future of the internet.
"The aim of our research is to make quantum networking technology accessible to everyone. With QNodeOS, we are taking a big step forward. We make it possible - for the first time - to easily programme and run applications on a quantum network," says Prof Dr Stephanie Wehner, Professor of Quantum Computing Technology at TU Delft's quantum technology research institute QuTech, who led the study. "Moreover, it is a tool that opens up completely new research areas for quantum computing technology."
Lowering barriers for developers
The ability to easily write programmes for classical computer hardware, such as laptops or phones, has had a huge impact on our world. It has enabled the development of a wide range of applications. "The system we developed is like the software on your computer at home: you don't need to know how the hardware works to use it," says Mariagrazia Iuliano, PhD student at QuTech.
By essentially removing the barrier between network hardware and software, the operating system will allow developers to easily create applications and that for a wide spectrum of hardware solutions. This opens the way for the development of software that can bring quantum networking technology closer to society.
A fully programmable operating system
QNodeOS is a fully programmable operating system for quantum networks, which means that applications can be run at a high level, similar to the way operating systems like Windows and Android allow for classical computers. Unlike previous systems, which required developers to develop code specifically for each experimental setup, QNodeOS allows quantum processors in a network to be easily controlled, regardless of the hardware platform used. "With such an architecture, which has never before been designed for quantum networks, developers can focus on their code rather than the details of the hardware," explains Bart van der Vecht, PhD student at QuTech. "This makes it easier to come up with new types of applications, perhaps even applications that we cannot imagine at the moment."
Compatible with multiple types of hardware
Quantum network applications different from software for quantum computers, which meant the researchers had to overcome unique and specific challenges. Whereas quantum computers basically only need to run one programme on one computer, quantum network applications require individual programmes to run, independently of each other, on different network nodes - 'nodes'. Compare it to how the software of an app on your phone is often split between that phone and a server in the cloud.
Quantum network
In a quantum network, nodes must also coordinate with each other through quantum entanglement, the type of connection that makes quantum networks special. QNodeOS provides a solution to the unique technical challenges of these quantum networks.
The researchers were also able to demonstrate that QNodeOS can work on various types of quantum hardware. They did this by having the operating system provide a connection between two very different types of quantum processors. Tracy Northup, professor at the University of Innsbruck, says "Our trapped ion processors here work fundamentally differently from the processors based on colour centres in diamond that Delft had set up. Yet we were able to show that QNodeOS worked with both and could connect the two types."
The future of quantum networks
To develop QNodeOS, experts from physics, computer science and engineering worked together to take an important step in QIA's mission to build a scalable and usable quantum network with practical applications. Here, the operating system means a crucial tool for future research and experiments.
As a next step, QIA is working to provide broad access to both the software and hardware components of the technology. One way to do this will be by running QNodeOS on the Quantum Network Explorer, QuTech's demonstrator for the quantum network. This will enable a much wider audience to experiment, innovate and write software for quantum networks, which will contribute to the accelerated evolution of the field.
Source: TU Delft
Opening photo: Corresponding author Stephanie Wehner and co-authors Mariagrazia Iuliano, Carlo Delle Donne and Bart van der Vecht against a backdrop of high-level application code that can be executed on network hardware via the QNodeOS stack. Photo credit: Studio Oostrum for QuTech.
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