US 11,838,061 B2Granted

Method and device for setting up long range quantum communications networks

AssigneeSecond Foundation

InventorMichele Reilly

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Abstract

Described is a method of setting up a plurality of quantum communications links, forming a quantum network providing provably secure communications and internet services over intercontinental distances without requiring direct line of sight communication or the intermediate use of the entanglement resource of satellites. Also described is a quantum communicator device for use in this method. Two or more quantum memory units are disposed at a first location, an entangled link is set up between at least two of the quantum memory units, at least one of the quantum memory units sharing in the entangled link is physically transported to a second location. The quantum communicator device comprises communications nodes, an optical interface to set up entanglement to other devices and storage nodes, each node in the form of a quantum memory unit capable of storing quantum information for a desired length of time, i.e. weeks or longer.

Claims10

Dependent claims

A quantum communicator device, comprising:

at least one communications node in the form of a quantum memory unit capable of maintaining an entangled link of at least a given desired fidelity to another communications or storage node for at least a first memory time, wherein the at least one communications node comprises an actively error corrected logical qubit,
an optical interface coupled to the communications node to create an entangled link between one of the communications nodes of the device and a communications node of another device located in proximity to the quantum communicator device,
at least one storage node in the form of a quantum memory unit capable of storing at least a qubit of quantum information for at least a second memory time, wherein the at least one storage node comprises an actively error corrected logical qubit,
wherein each storage node can be coupled to at least one of the communications nodes in the sense that a multi-qubit operation may be performed between the nodes.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 17/171,777Filed 9 Feb 2021 · continuation
Priority: EP 1919306222 Aug 2019
Published: US 2022/0006534 A16 Jan 2022
Granted: 5 Dec 2023
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification5 codes

H04B 10/90
Transmission systems employing electromagnetic waves other than radio-waves, e.g. infrared, visible or ultraviolet light, or employing…
H04L 9/0855
Quantum cryptography: involving additional nodes, e.g. quantum relays, repeaters, intermediate nodes or remote nodes
H04B 10/70
Transmission systems employing electromagnetic waves other than radio-waves, e.g. infrared, visible or ultraviolet light, or employing…
H04B
Transmission

Family

Application16/549,781Parent of this continuation · filed 23 Aug 2019
US 2022/0006534 A1Pre-grant publication · published 6 Jan 2022
US 10,951,326 B1Parent of this continuation
US 2021/0058163 A1Published application
US 11,838,061 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.