Abstract
Quantum network is a promising platform for many ground-breaking applications that lie beyond the capability of its classical counterparts. Efficient entanglement generation on quantum networks with relatively limited resources such as quantum memories is essential to fully realize the network’s capabilities, the solution to which calls for delicate network design and is currently at the primitive stage. In this study we propose an effective routing scheme to enable automatic responses for multiple requests of entanglement generation between source-terminal stations on a quantum lattice network with finite edge capacities. Multiple connection paths are exploited for each connection request while entanglement fidelity is ensured for each path by performing entanglement purification. The routing scheme is highly modularized with a flexible nature, embedding quantum operations within the algorithmic workflow, whose performance is evaluated from multiple perspectives. In particular, three algorithms are proposed and compared for the scheduling of capacity allocation on the edges of quantum network. Embodying the ideas of proportional share and progressive filling that have been well-studied in classical routing problems, we design another scheduling algorithm, the propagatory update method, which in certain aspects overrides the two algorithms based on classical heuristics in scheduling performances. The general solution scheme paves the road for effective design of efficient routing and flow control protocols on applicational quantum networks.
Highlights
Quantum networks[1] enable many applications that lie beyond the scope of classical data networks, such as quantum communication[2], clock synchronization[3], and distributed quantum computing[4,5,6]
Each node represents a quantum station with a finite number of qubit memories The edge capacity C0 is defined as the maximal number of entangled pairs that can be generated between adjacent nodes
Performance results show that the three schemes have different advantages: progressive filling is the fairest method, whereas the fairness of the two proportional methods is compromised to a nontrivial extent, and depends on the system parameters α, β
Summary
Quantum networks[1] enable many applications that lie beyond the scope of classical data networks, such as quantum communication[2], clock synchronization[3], and distributed quantum computing[4,5,6] Most of these applications require the generation of entangled pairs between far-away stations on the quantum network. Recent experiments[7] have demonstrated deterministic entanglement between two spatially separated solid-state memories via optical photons. The distance in this physical (hardware) layer[8] can be further increased with low-loss optical links, such as transporting photons at the tele-communication wavelength[9,10,11]. Quantum repeaters (Fig. 1a) link quantum stations over longer distances by performing entanglement swapping, e.g., joint Bell state measurements at the local repeater station
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