The QPath Blog


QuantumPath® in the quantum computing technology landscape

Authors

Mario Piattini
aQuantum Chief Research Officer (CRO)

Guido Peterssen Nodarse
aQuantum Chief Operating Officer (COO)

José Luis Hevia
aQuantum Chief Technology Officer (CTO)

Quantum computing will lead to a profound computing revolution significantly disrupting the established business models and redefining entire industries [1]. In fact, there are several areas where quantum computing applications may prove useful such as optimization, artificial intelligence and machine learning, factoring large numbers, chemistry, and fundamental science [2].

As a result, dozens of quantum computers (based on photonic, superconducting, trapped ions, and neutral atoms quantum processors), a plethora of tools and platforms [3] and programming languages [4] have begun to emerge that address different aspects of quantum computing. In figure 1, based on [5], the main players of the quantum computing landscape are represented.

Figure 1. Quantum computing landscape, adapted from Near-Future: Quantum Computing, Silicon Foundry, July 14, 2020. https://sifoundry.medium.com/near-future-quantum-computing-caae89b0498e [5]

As can be seen in the figure, on the one hand there are full-stack vendors that offer a complete end-to-end system that includes everything from hardware to software development platforms. These environments can be more proprietary or more open including interaction with different quantum hardware.

On the other hand, there are several companies that offer quantum computing services in cloud mode, since it is unlikely that organizations will have a quantum computer on premise due to the costs and special conditions that are still required at the current level of maturity of the technology. There are also several companies that offer quantum systems and firmware, such as quantum networks, error control tools, signal and control managers, etc.

Within the systems dedicated to a specific technological sector, we can also highlight the software dedicated to quantum encryption and quantum artificial intelligence, two of the areas that have attracted the most research interest at the moment.

Finally, we can see in the figure a section dedicated to software applications, which includes both generalist platforms and those specialized in specific areas such as finance. It should be noted that one of the top concerns regarding quantum computing is the lack of good software environments, that facilitate quantum computing programming [6].

We will now show how QuantumPath®, distributed by aQuantum and recently released to the public [7], fits into this quantum computing technology landscape.

First of all, QuantumPath® can be considered a quantum cloud computing environment since it offers the service to work in a SaaS way with different quantum technologies such as those from IBM, Microsoft, Rigetti, D-Wave, Google, Fujitsu, and other vendors, as well as third-party quantum computing simulators like QuTech, CTIC, etc. The provided environment is secure, extensible, high-performance, and scalable. One of the main advantages of QuantumPath® is that it is totally agnostic to the quantum hardware used, so the user can access in a cloud environment any kind of quantum computer, which helps to assure the effort invested in quantum software development without spend resources in installing and customizing any kind of quantum hardware.

Secondly, QuantumPath® is a quantum system supporting the execution of quantum process units transparently of the environment in which they are executed, that can be deployed in multiple contexts: cloud, on-premise or hybrid. QuantumPath® has been designed from scratch to be a high scalable, available, and secure quantum system. It is high scalable not only because is installed upon AWS, but also because -as a result of its modular design- future quantum technologies could be effortless added as new layers to the system. Availability is also complemented with the asynchronous launching of executions (being able to retrieve the results when they are available), the persistence of the executions performed, and the capacity to schedule executions at a point in time. And the security is intrinsic to the system since it has been constructed followed the security by design principle and techniques.

Moreover, QuantumPath® allows to consult and analyse the telemetry generated in the system and use machine learning techniques to support work and decisions to be made. For example, the system can decide in which quantum hardware could be faster or cheaper to execute some quantum algorithm, or even which combination of quantum hardware could be the optimal for executing a quantum software application.

Another unique aspect of QuantumPath® is its qSOA™ architecture which enables the integration of quantum software and classical IT through ConnectionPoints and its open standards-based protocol. So, it is possible to create an information system in which a classical part using an ERP, CRM, or any legacy system, provides/receives data to/from a quantum software performing some advanced optimization of special algorithm.

Finally, QuantumPath® provides a quantum software development & application lifecycle platform from the creation of the quantum algorithm through its development, testing and implementation, to its deployment and reuse (see an example in [8]) QuantumPath® offers a full ALM stack oriented to the creation of quantum software solutions: assets management, the Q Assets Compositor™ design tools, metalanguages, compilers, transpilers, scalable execution units on demand, unified results, integration adapters, quantum services catalogue, etc. It supports all the quantum technological approaches: gate model and/or quantum annealing with a graphical very user-friendly interface, which accelerates the construction and deployment of quantum applications, abstracting their technical complexities.

Moreover, QuantumPath® support Software Engineering and Programming best practices adoption, following the principles of the Talavera Manifesto [9], ensuring the quality of quantum development projects and software [10]. In this way QuantumPath® effectively provides an ecosystem that covers the widest range of possible applications (Chemistry, Economics, Financial services, Energy and agriculture, Medicine and health, Privacy and cryptography, Logistics, Defence and National security, …)

Another interesting comparison is that of the quantum software technologies for the development of quantum software, available through some of the most representative development platforms on the international market. 

As you might expect, each provider designs, develops and maintains its quantum development platform from its own perspective, with its own environment preferences and technology approaches. Therefore, each vendor ends up creating an architecture and look and feel in their platforms that is very different from that of other vendors. This is normal, because these visions are based on teams with different competencies and experiences in the various disciplines of quantum computing and software development, compounded by the specific business objectives that each of the major players wants to achieve with their platform. Regardless of this, we believe that the similarities of the vast majority of these platforms are comparable in a set of functionalities relevant to their raison d’être.

In a study on the development of quantum software [11], an interesting analysis of a group of functionalities is presented, some of which we have visually grouped in Figure 2, to which we have added the functionalies related to dynamic hybrid software solutions and quantum approaches gate-based & quantum annealingWe believe that the following functionalities are valid for a current comparative analysis of quantum software development platforms and the support of quantum gate and annealing approaches:

Figure 2. Quantum Software Development Platforms: Product Functionality.

QuantumPath® has been designed from the perspective of Quantum Software Engineering and Programming, thanks to which it offers a wide range of capabilities to quantum software development teams, in addition to providing them with an ecosystem of professional tools that maximize productivity [12], perhaps for all this it is the only platform that fully complies with all the functionalities compared in Figure 2:

·     Hardware agnosticity

·     Quantum approaches: gate-based & quantum annealing

·     Classic-quantum hybrid dynamic software solutions

·     IDE

·     Quantum software optimization features

·     Out-Of-The-Box (OOTB)

·     Service integration

·     Third-party software

In conclusion, QuantumPath® currently offers services in the three facets we have discussed: as a cloud quantum provider, as a complete quantum system, and as a quantum software application development framework. If all this were not enough, QPath® is also a robust platform for quantum software development, at the level of the most representative in the international market, which solves most of the quality problems of this kind of platforms [13].

References:

[1] The Quantum Decade.  A playbook for achieving awareness, readiness, and advantage. IBM Institute for Business Value. https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/J25G35OK

[2] Technology Assessment. Quantum Computing and Communications. Status and Prospects GAO-22-104422, United States Government Accountability Office. Report to Congressional Addressees, October 2021. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-22-104422

[3] Quantum Computing. Jose Luis Hevia, Guido Peterssen, Christof Ebert, Mario Piattini. IEEE Softw. 38(5): 7-15 (2021). https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9520227

[4] Requirements for a Robust Quantum Software Development Environment. Mario Piattini: Cutter Business Technology Journal, Vol. 34, Nº 4, 12-17. https://www.cutter.com/article/requirements-robust-quantum-software-development-environment

[5] Near-Future: Quantum Computing, Silicon Foundry, July 14, 2020. https://sifoundry.medium.com/near-future-quantum-computing-caae89b0498e

[6] Quantum Computing: A View from the Trenches. Research Notes, October 2021, Classiq. https://global-uploads.webflow.com/60000db7a5f449af5e4590ac/615e07579c877baed322b40b_Classiq%20Oct%2021%20full%20survey.pdf

[7] QPath® is finally available for developing truly real agnostic quantum systems. José Luis Hevia, Mario Piattini, Guido Peterssen. https://www.quantumpath.es/2021/10/27/qpath-is-finally-available-for-developing-truly-real-agnostic-quantum-systems/

[8] Implementation of Bernstein-Vazirani algorithm in QPath®. QuantumPath® Tutorials. Version: 1.0.2021.

[9] The Talavera Manifesto for Quantum Software Engineering and Programming. Mario Piattini, Guido Peterssen, Ricardo Pérez-Castillo, José L. Hevia, Manuel A. Serrano, Guillermo Hernández, Ignacio García Rodríguez de Guzmán, Claudo A. Paradela, Macario Polo, Ezequiel Murina, Luis Jiménez, Juan C. Marqueño, Ramsés Gallego, Jordi Tura, Frank Phillipson, Juan M. Murillo, Alfonso Niño, and Moisés Rodríguez. 2020, https://www.aquantum.es/manifesto/

[10] Towards a quantum software engineering. M., Piattini, M. Serrano, R. Pérez-Castillo, G. Peterssen, and J. L. Hevia. IT Prof., vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 62–66, Jan.-Feb. 2021. doi: 10.1109/MITP.2020.3019522. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9340056

[11] Quantum Computing. Jose Luis Hevia, Guido Peterssen, Christof Ebert, Mario Piattini. IEEE Softw. 38(5): 7-15 (2021). https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9520227

[12] QPath capabilities. https://www.quantumpath.es/qpath-capabilities/

[13] https://www.quantumpath.es/2021/02/11/qpath-solves-most-of-the-quality-problems-of-quantum-computing-platforms/