Overview of Quantum Computer Platform

What is Quantum Computer

A Quantum computer is a machine that stores data and enhances computation adopting the principles of quantum mechanics, which is the behavior of particles at the sub-atomic level.

Classical Computer stores the information in series of 0's and 1's. Various types of data like text, images, videos, audio clips, etc are stored in binary digits.

Quantum Computer uses Quantum bits (called Qubits) to store the information. It is the fundamental building block of the Quantum Computer. Qubits can be carried as atoms, ions, photons, or electrons and their respective control devices that are working together to act as computer memory and a processor.

Qubit is a bit of data represented by a single Quantum system that is in one of two states denoted by |0> and |1>.  A single bit of this form is called a qubit. Qubit operates on two principles of quantum physics that are superposition and entanglement.

Qubit stores information in both true and false at the same time. One qubit is equal to two bits. For example, a 4 qubit computer register can hold 16 different numbers simultaneously.

In 2012, Serge Haroche and David Wineland were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics "for ground-breaking experimental methods that enable measuring and manipulation of individual quantum systems.

"Their ground-breaking methods have enabled this field of research to take the very first steps towards building a new type of super-fast computer based on quantum physics. Perhaps the quantum computer will change our everyday lives in this century in the same radical way as the classical computer did in the last century." — NobelPrize.org

Classical Computer Vs Quantum Computer

The following table summarises the difference between Classical Computer and Quantum Computer.

Quantum Computer Platform Architecture

Quantum Computer Platform consists of two layers namely Quantum Computing Layer and Classical Computing Layer which are depicted in the below diagram.

Quantum Computing Layer consists of Quantum Hardware, Quantum Processing Unit, and Quantum-classical interface.

• Quantum hardware covers Qubits that are surrounded by superconducting loops for the physical realization of qubits. It also consists of interconnect circuitry for control operations of Qubit.
• Quantum processing Unit consists of Quantum registers, Quantum logic gates, and quantum Memory.
• The quantum-classical interface includes hardware and software which provides interfacing between classical computers and a QPU.

Classical Computing Layer,  consists of Quantum Programming environment, Cloud data Centre and Business Applications.

Quantum programming environment consisting of

• quantum assembly language for instructing QPU
• Quantum programs in high-level programming languages
• Quantum Algorithms for solving a variety of computing problems much faster than a classical computer
• Quantum circuits, the common models for representing quantum computation. In this model, the steps of a quantum algorithm can be expressed as a sequence of quantum logic gates. Each quantum logic gate transforms the input qubits in a well-defined manner,  typically  expressed  as  operations  on  matrices  and  vectors
• High-level programming API or instructions used for composing the quantum programs

Quantum programs mainly involved the following tasks,

• Mapping input and output from classical bits representation to qubits
• Initializing the qubits state
• quantum circuit using suitable quantum logic gates to express steps of  a  quantum  algorithm to get a reliable measurement of the outcomes
• Measure the output qubits state and transfer it to the classical bit

Cloud data Centre is used to store the processing data based on quantum algorithm output.

Business applications leverage Quantum software applications to help in meeting the business requirements of an enterprise.

Characteristics of Quantum Computer Platform

The following are the basic characteristics of the Quantum Computing Platform (QCP) architecture to be considered during the development, deployment, operation, and management of the quantum software.

Low-level Programming: today Quantum Computers are built on low-level programming based on quantum logical gates to handle computational steps to execute in Quantum Processing Unit (QPU). Some of the examples of the Quantum Logical Gates: Pauli, Hadamard, CCNot, etc.

Heterogeneous:  the technical specifications of the various Quantum Computer Platforms are heterogeneous in nature both software and hardware involved in QPU.  Examples of QCP are IBM, Microsoft, D-wave, Google, etc.

Remote software development and deployment: QCP vendors provide the Quantum Computing software development framework for leveraging quantum processors that are accessed remotely based on Cloud. A limited portion of the programming tool stack is deployed on the local machines.  Programmers access production-ready quantum software remotely for development and testing.

Quantum algorithms: Programmers leverage the quantum algorithms to define the computing task. Algorithms help in gaining speed and communicating with other computing tasks that are running on QCP.  Also, programmers must identify or design suitable quantum algorithms which can solve the problem on hand.

Portability of Software:  Quantum computing Platforms are currently evolving and the software developed by the platform owners are native in nature. This software follows its own standards, proprietary programming API, and tools.  Examples of software are QISKit from IBM, Quantum Development Kit from Microsoft, Cirq from Google, etc.

Uses of Quantum Computer

The implications of true quantum computing at scale are staggering, of extraordinary impact to society today. Quantum algorithms are applied in a variety of industries for

• Optimization problems such as scheduling & route planning to find the best possible decision out of a large number of decisions or options that are available
• Search, Sampling & Pattern matching
• Quantum encryption

Quantum computing has the potential to disrupt major sectors, including banking, healthcare, transportation, and more. Some of the industry-wise usages are listed below,

Challenges in Quantum Computing Today

The following are the challenges in Quantum Computing,

• Lack of good software, i.e., more QC algorithms that solve real-world problems
• Technological challenges like limited qubit connectivity, too low gate fidelities, or large amounts of qubits required for error correction. Therefore, detecting, controlling, and correcting errors becomes a major challenge.
• Lack of collaboration and exchange between industry and academia
• Quantum computers operate at temperatures close to absolute zero, colder than the vacuum of space. Maintaining such a low temperature is a big challenge.
• Current quantum computers structure and nature of operation make it difficult that it could ever be built into a mobile device such as mobile phones

Conclusion

Recently, Quantum Computing has gained momentum because it has moved from academic research to more commercially usage ecosystems.

Industries today are experimenting with cloud-based quantum computing technologies to achieve better productivity and efficiency.   Usage of deep Artificial Intelligence capabilities, Machine Learning algorithms, Business Analytics, and intelligence to achieve business agility are the top expectations cited by the organizations.

Researchers expect that development times ranging from two to five years will be needed in order to develop error-free quantum computers with a larger number of qubits and considerably longer computation time.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Kiran M.R, Raju Alluri of Enterprise Architecture Group of Wipro Technologies for giving the required time and support in many ways in bringing this article as part of Architecture Practice efforts.

About Author

Dr. Gopala Krishna Behara

Dr.Gopala Krishna Behara is a Distinguished Member and Lead Enterprise Architect in Wipro Technologies with 25+ years of extensive experience in the ICT industry. He serves as an Advisory Architect, Mentor on Enterprise Architecture, Application Modernization and continues to work as a Subject Matter Expert and Author. He is certified in Open Group TOGAF, AWS Solution Architect -Associate, IBM Cloud Solutions, and UNPAN. Published a number of research papers, books in the IT industry. He has been a speaker at National and International forums and bodies like The Open Group, National e-Governance Forum. He has been a moderator and panel member for multiple technical/business forums like IGI Global, AEA, Open Group, and Premium College meets. Recipient of EA Hall of Fame International Award – Individual Leadership in EA Practice, Promotion and Professionalization Award.  He can be reached at: gopalkrishna.behra@wipro.com.

His public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gopalbeha/

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this article/presentation are that of the authors and Wipro does not subscribe to the substance, veracity, or truthfulness of the said opinion.