Coordinating operation of quantum network nodes in a quantum network

A system for coordinating generation of entanglements between quantum network nodes in a quantum network comprising:

• a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, and a processor coupled to the computer readable storage medium, wherein responsive to executing the computer readable program code, the processor is configured to perform executable operations comprising:
• receiving a request for establishing entanglements between a first quantum network node and a second quantum network node in the quantum network, a path connecting the first quantum network node with the second quantum network node via one or more intermediary quantum network nodes, the first and second quantum network node and the one or more intermediary quantum network nodes being time-synchronized;
• determining a quantum repeater protocol to establish the entanglements, the quantum repeater protocol being associated with a network demand entanglement rate defining a desired rate of entanglements between the first and second quantum network node, the quantum repeater protocol including one or more elementary entanglement operations for establishing entanglement between connected pairs of quantum network nodes and one or more an entanglement swapping operations for establishing entanglement between quantum network nodes that are connected via an intermediate quantum network node, the quantum repeater protocol further including a resource map defining qubits of the quantum network nodes that are used for each quantum repeater protocol operation and including a relative offset map defining the relative timing between the quantum repeater protocol operations of the quantum repeater protocol;
• constructing a network schedule based on the quantum repeater protocol and the network demand entanglement rate, the network schedule being a cyclic schedule including fixed time slots for signaling the first and second quantum network node and the one or more intermediary quantum network nodes when the quantum repeater protocol should be executed, when the quantum repeater protocol operations of the quantum repeater protocol start and stop and which qubits of the quantum network nodes are used for the one or more elementary entanglement operations and the one or more entanglement swapping operations;
• and,
• sending the network schedule to the quantum network nodes of the quantum network, the first and second quantum network node and the one or more intermediary quantum network nodes executing the quantum repeater protocol in accordance with the network schedule to establish entanglements between the first and second quantum network node at a rate that is accordance with the network demand entanglement rate.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing at least one software code portion, the software code portion, when executed or processed by a computer, is configured to perform a computer-implemented method for coordinating generation of entanglements between quantum network nodes in a quantum network, the software code portion comprising:

• receiving a request for establishing entanglements between a first quantum network node and a second quantum network node in the quantum network, a path connecting the first quantum network node with the second quantum network node via one or more intermediary quantum network nodes, the first and second quantum network node and the one or more intermediary quantum network nodes being time-synchronized;
• determining a quantum repeater protocol to establish the entanglements, the quantum repeater protocol being associated with a network demand entanglement rate defining a desired rate of entanglements between the first and second quantum network node, the quantum repeater protocol including one or more elementary entanglement operations for establishing entanglement between connected pairs of quantum network nodes and one or more an entanglement swapping operations for establishing entanglement between quantum network nodes that are connected via an intermediate quantum network node, the quantum repeater protocol further including a resource map defining qubits of the quantum network nodes that are used for each quantum repeater protocol operation and including a relative offset map defining the relative timing between the quantum repeater protocol operations of the quantum repeater protocol;
• constructing a network schedule based on the quantum repeater protocol and the network demand entanglement rate, the network schedule being a cyclic schedule including fixed time slots for signalling the first and second quantum network node and the one or more intermediary quantum network nodes when the quantum repeater protocol should be executed, when the quantum repeater protocol operations of the quantum repeater protocol start and stop and which qubits of the quantum network nodes are used for the one or more elementary entanglement operations and the one or more entanglement swapping operations;
• and,
• sending the network schedule to the quantum network nodes of the quantum network, the first and second quantum network node and the one or more intermediary quantum network nodes executing the quantum repeater protocol in accordance with the network schedule to establish entanglements between the first and second quantum network node at a rate that is in accordance with the network demand entanglement rate.