Cisco takes aim at developing quantum data center

“At the same time, you want to get to the position that you can connect your quantum sensors together and essentially bring in things like IoT and other sensor devices and connect them using a network, not only to get the benefit of better sensing and accuracy but also to have a distributed sensing in terms of the coverage area,” Nejabati said.

The idea is to not make customers reinstall a new type of network infrastructure for this work, rather it would be better to use the existing fiber infrastructure, at least for quantum entanglement, and then add control and management on top, Nejabati said.

In terms of networking, management, and control, Cisco is developing its own quantum entanglement network fabric called QFabric, which would be the core of a quantum switch and ensure the quantum entanglement process works between a quantum computer and sensor interconnect, Nejabati said. The switch supports non-blocking switching of entangled photons from any input ports to any output ports and supports multiple modes of entanglement. It will feature ultra-low loss and time jitter port-to-port switching to ensure connectivity.”

“Ultimately we want to support large numbers of users in a scalable, multi-tenant environment with this dynamically switched quantum network,” Nejabati said.

In addition to the networking functions, QFabric is the environment that will be used to ensure quantum-safe networking. For example, QFabric is very suitable for a scalable key distribution. 

“We are working to build a platform that you can create a hybrid key management, key distribution system that brings together [post-quantum cryptography] PQC and [quantum key distribution] QKD,” Nejabati said. “Furthermore, any security solution relies on a random number generator, and a perfect random number generator is essential for cryptography, and at Cisco, we have our own internally developed quantum random number generator.”