Engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have taken quantum networks from the lab to Verizon’s commercial fiber-optic cables using the same Internet Protocol (IP) that powers the modern web.
Engineers at the University of Pennsylvania have taken quantum networks from the lab to Verizon’s commercial fiber-optic cables using the same Internet Protocol (IP) that powers the modern web.
Scientists have demonstrated that quantum signals can work on the same infrastructure that carries everyday online traffic. The team tested their approach on a Verizon campus fiber optic network, Science Daily reports.
Their Q-chip coordinates quantum and classical data and works on the same technology as today’s network. This approach could pave the way for a future «quantum internet» that could cause the same revolution as the advent of the regular internet, the scientists believe.
Quantum signals are based on pairs of «entangled» particles that are so tightly linked that changing one instantly affects the other. Harnessing this property could allow quantum computers to team up and combine their computing power, enabling more powerful AI or developing new drugs or materials that today’s supercomputers can’t compute.
An experiment on a real commercial fiber showed that a quantum chip can not only send quantum signals, but also automatically correct for noise, combine quantum and classical data into standard internet packets, and route them using the same addressing system and management tools that connect everyday devices on the network.
«By showing that an integrated chip can manage quantum signals on an existing commercial network like Verizon, and doing so using the same protocols that operate on the classical Internet, we have taken an important step toward larger-scale experiments and a practical quantum Internet,» said Liang Feng, professor of materials science and engineering (MSE) and electrical and systems engineering (ESE).
Scientists explain that conventional networks measure data to direct it to its final destination. This is not possible with purely quantum networks, as measuring particles destroys their quantum state.
To get around this obstacle, the team developed the Q-Chip (Quantum-Classical Hybrid Internet by Photonics) to coordinate «classical» signals, consisting of regular streams of light, and quantum particles.
«The classical signal travels slightly ahead of the quantum signal. This allows us to measure the classical signal for routing, leaving the quantum signal untouched,» the scientists explained.
