#United States #New York #Cisco #Quantum Networking #Qunnect

Qunnect and Cisco Break New Ground in Quantum Networking

In a groundbreaking achievement for quantum technology, Qunnect has teamed up with Cisco to successfully showcase the first metro-scale quantum entanglement swapping over commercial fiber in New York City. This landmark demonstration not only marks a significant milestone in the field of quantum networking but also brings practical quantum networks closer to real-world applications.

Major Breakthroughs in Entanglement Swapping

The demonstration utilized Qunnect's innovative room-temperature quantum hardware, designed to leverage existing telecom infrastructure while maintaining high-fidelity entanglement. It achieved record entanglement swapping rates of over 1.7 million pairs per hour in local settings and 5,400 pairs per hour across deployed fiber. These figures far exceed previous benchmarks, making this event a significant leap forward in the scalability of quantum networks.

To conduct this important demonstration, the teams utilized Qunnect's GothamQ testbed, which spans a 17.6-kilometer stretch of fiber connecting vital hubs in Brooklyn and Manhattan, specifically passing through QTD Systems' data center located at 60 Hudson Street. The integration of Qunnect's Carina system allows for the generation of entangled photon pairs, while Cisco's software orchestrates the entire quantum network, functioning like a digital air traffic controller for the city.

Validating a New Network Model

This collaboration is pivotal as it validates a new spoke-and-hub model aimed at scaling quantum networks through commercial data centers. Prior to this achievement, quantum networks were often tethered by shared master lasers, making them less flexible and scalable. However, Qunnect's innovative approach removes this limitation by using independent entanglement sources, enabling modular expansion of the network without requiring all nodes to be connected through shared hardware.

Mehdi Namazi, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer at Qunnect, emphasized the importance of this milestone, stating: "Entanglement swapping is a fundamental operation in the quantum internet. Today, we not only broke the record for rate and scalability, but we did so in New York City using some of the noisiest, most chaotic fiber on Earth."

High Performance and Cost-effective Architecture

One significant advantage of this deployment is its cost-effective architecture. The system incorporates both room-temperature detectors and cryogenic equipment concentrated solely at the central hub, thus allowing for more economical scaling of the network. The technology integrates carefully designed Automatic Polarization Controllers that continuously compensate for polarization drift, ensuring the stability and reliability of the entangled states throughout the network.

This achievement not only showcases Qunnect's capabilities in providing a scalable messaging platform but also highlights Cisco's commitment to advancing quantum networking solutions. Reza Nejabati, Head of Quantum Research at Cisco, stated: "This milestone accelerates our quantum networking vision... foundational capabilities for distributed quantum computing and the global quantum grid."

Future Implications for Quantum Computing

The integration of Qunnect and Cisco's technologies is paving the way for a future where quantum computing can be distributed more effectively across metropolitan areas. The experiments conducted in this landmark demonstration serve as a blueprint for not just quantum entanglement but also for the practical implementation of distributed quantum computing systems. This, in turn, could lead to more secure communications and advanced computational capabilities across fields like finance, health care, and telecommunications.

As cities worldwide venture into quantum technologies, Qunnect is at the forefront of building the infrastructure to enable secure, scalable connectivity over existing fiber optic networks. With their ongoing innovations, Qunnect and its partners are laying the groundwork for the future of quantum networking, one demonstration at a time.

For further details on Qunnect's groundbreaking initiatives, visit www.qunnect.inc.