Quantum Internet Research Group
charter-irtf-qirg-02

Quantum Internet Research Group Charter

The Quantum Internet will bring new communication and remote
computation capabilities such as quantum secure communication,
distributed quantum computing, and quantum-enhanced physical sensor
systems. A key focus area for quantum networks will be cryptographic
functions such as quantum key distribution or quantum byzantine
agreement.

Work towards a Quantum Internet is well underway in physics
laboratories and in theory groups. The next step is network
engineering. Being embedded within the IRTF community helps in
achieving this goal in two ways:

• The IRTF community has extensive experience in network engineering.
  Whilst quantum networks operate on a completely new set of physical
  principles, many lessons have been learned throughout the Internet's
  history and many of them will be relevant to the development of the
  Quantum Internet.
• Quantum networks will be embedded within non-quantum (classical)
  networks, as they require classical connectivity for control and
  management purposes. Thus, the IRTF's experience in classical
  network design and architecture will be beneficial.

Overall the goal of the QIRG is to address the question of how to
design and build quantum networks. Some of the problems that need to
be addressed include:

• Routing: Finding an optimal path in a quantum network is a
  non-trivial problem due to the requirement of achieving a certain
  fidelity threshold and the low coherence time of quantum memories.
  There are a number of proposals and which routing schemes are
  appropriate for which circumstances needs to be assessed.
• Resource allocation: All networks have a finite pool of resources,
  and quantum networks bring new resource considerations to the
  table, such as the coherence time of quantum memories. Some of the
  routing proposals already include a notion of dynamic traffic in
  the network, but it is worth making a distinction.
• Connection establishment: Quantum networks deliver entangled states
  instead of packets so the connection semantics may be different.
  How does such a request look like as it propagates across the
  network?
• Interoperability: Different networks based on different hardware
  (ion traps, atomic ensembles, nitrogen vacancy centres) and using
  different protocols are currently being designed and built. How do
  we ensure a long-lived internetwork develops?
• Security: Quantum networks bring enhanced security for
  applications. Therefore, the question of the security of the
  network itself must also be addressed. Are quantum repeater
  networks inherently more or less vulnerable in operations than
  classical networks?
• API design: Classical sockets are built around the concept of bits.
  What should an API for entangled states look like given new
  considerations such as fidelity, and the low coherence time of
  quantum memories?

Some other problems that can be tackled by the QIRG:

• Applications for a Quantum Internet: an important item on
  the agenda for the community is analyzing how to turn the
  low-level, abstract functions of quantum communication into services
  provided by the Quantum Internet, including establishing required
  data rates and fidelities, with specific use cases incorporating
  quantum services into complete information systems.
• Multi-party states and multi-party transfers such as network coding:
  rather than simple, independent point-to-point transfers, how can we
  create and use more complex states?

Outputs and Milestones

Concrete work items that QIRG may produce include:

• An architectural framework delineating network node roles and
  definitions, to build a common vocabulary and serve as the first
  step toward a quantum network architecture.
• Wehner, Elkhouss and Hanson have created a roadmap of technical
  capability milestones for quantum networks. Mapping these
  milestones to concrete use cases will help to determine the order
  and timing of classical protocols that will be needed. For example,
  consider prepare-and-measure networks; what data rates, fidelities
  are needed to e.g. make a useful position verification service, and
  how would you incorporate that into a complete information system?

Finally, QIRG will serve as a coordination point with other standards
organizations that are working on standardization of quantum networks.

Process

QIRG will hold 2-3 meetings per year, online or in person, in
accordance with current best practice.

Membership Policy

Open