Cisco lays out plans for networking in era of quantum computing

Cisco has unveiled its plans to prepare networking for the era of quantum computing. As it officially opened its Quantum Labs in Santa Monica, the company announced that it has developed a prototype quantum network entanglement chip, in collaboration with the University of California (UC), Santa Barbara.

According to Cisco, the chip generates pairs of entangled photons that instantly transmit quantum states between each other, regardless of distance, through quantum teleportation. The phenomenon was described by Albert Einstein as “spooky action at a distance”.

Galan Moody, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at UC Santa Barbara, who worked with Cisco on the development of the prototype chip, said: “Integrated photonics enables many sources to be combined onto a single chip, and by packaging these sources with optical fibre and electronic controls, a single device can boost the entanglement rates for many users on their quantum network.”

The chip is a fundamental component of Cisco’s approach to building a datacentre architecture for the era of quantum computing. In a blog post discussing the challenges of quantum computing in the datacentre, Cisco’s quantum computing lead, Reza Nejabati, and head of research, Ramana Kompella, wrote: “The challenges for quantum datacentre network fabric are fundamentally different from classical ones. Quantum datacentres must preserve fragile quantum states, distribute entanglement resources, facilitate teleportation between processors and synchronise operations with sub-nanosecond precision.”

Cisco’s quantum datacentre architecture consists of three layers. The first is the physical layer of specialised quantum hardware; second, there is an entanglement management layer that distributes quantum resources; and finally, there is the computing layer that partitions algorithms across networked processors. According to Nejabati and Kompella, this architecture enables multiple smaller quantum processors to work together as a unified system, potentially accelerating practical quantum applications by years.

Beyond the entanglement chip, Vijoy Pandey, senior vice-president of Outshift by Cisco, said: “We’re building infrastructure to connect quantum processors at scale, enabling distributed quantum computing, quantum sensing and optimisation algorithms that could transform critical applications such as drug discovery, materials science and complex logistics problems. Our quantum network entanglement chip is foundational to this vision.”

What makes our quantum networking approach powerful is our focus on both software and hardware development

Pandey said Cisco was advancing research prototypes of other critical components, including entanglement distribution protocols, a distributed quantum computing compiler, Quantum Network Development Kit (QNDK) and a Quantum Random Number Generator (QRNG) using quantum vacuum noise.

“What makes our quantum networking approach powerful is our focus on both software and hardware development. By developing our own network hardware components, such as the chip alongside our full software stack, we gain unique insights into how these elements work together to build complete quantum networking infrastructure,” he said.

While some companies focus solely on one type of quantum computing technology, Cisco said its approach is quantum technology agnostic, which means it can work with any quantum computing technology. “We don’t need to pick winners because we’re building the networking fabric that will help all quantum technologies to scale,” Pandey added.

The company has promised to unveil more of its quantum datacentre infrastructure roadmap as it fleshes out its quantum networking stack. Cisco has also been implementing the Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) NIST standard across its product portfolio, which, Pandey said, will ensure classical networks remain secure in a post-quantum world.