Full-stack quantum computer

Quantum Inspire is built using first-rate engineering practices. Starting from experimental set-ups, a layered and modular system was designed to end up with a solid and robust hardware system. This quantum computer consists of a number of layers including quantum chip hardware, classical control electronics, a quantum compiler and a software front-end with a cloud-accessible web-interface. Such a system is called a full-stack. Full-stack systems are essential testbeds for understanding this novel computational paradigm. They can act as technology accelerators because only through careful analysis of the individual system layers and their interdependencies it becomes possible to detect the gaps and necessary next steps in the innovation roadmap and supply chain.

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  Web portal and user interaction

  Quantum Inspire

  Quantum Inspire's user experience comes with a web portal with an intuitive editor for novice users and a software development kit (SDK) to program algorithms, execute these algorithms and examine the results in various ways. Account management, job and result management is available for all registered users. You can execute your algorithms on one of our quantum processors, Spin-2 and Starmon-7, or on our QX simulator. This short animation explains the journey of the quantum algorithm through Quantum Inspire.

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  cQASM and SDK

  Programming language

  The programming language of Quantum Inspire is cQASM, developed by the Quantum & Computer Engineering group at TU Delft. cQASM algorithms can be programmed using the QI online editor or using the Quantum Inspire SDK.  The SDK makes it possible to programmatically generate quantum circuits and process the results. This Python layer consists of

  • A Python interface to the REST API of the Quantum Inspire platform
  • A backend for the ProjectQ framework
  • A backend for the QisKit framework

  The SDK performs any translation between projectQ or Qiskit and Quantum Inspire. A nice article on how to use the SDK with Qiskit can be found here.

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  OpenQL and projectQ

  Transpiler and Compiler

  Quantum Inspire uses different modules for the transpilation (conversion from one qubit operation to other qubit operations) and compilation (conversion from native qubit operations to digital micro-instructions) of qubit operations.

  The following modules are used:

  • OpenQL
  • ProjectQ
  • Low level device specific compilers (in-house)

  The two systems offer different gate sets for the users. Starmon-7 offers arbitrary singe-qubit rotations and fast two-qubit gates with high fidelity on 7 superconducting qubits. Spin-2 offers arbitrary single-qubit rotations and two-qubit gates on 2 electron spin qubits.

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  Classical to quantum

  Control Electronics

  The digital and analog processing steps make use of both commercial electronics as well as in-house electronics developed by TNO and TU Delft, in an engineering feat that delivers the phase and amplitude modulated microwave pulses and voltage steps to execute the required qubit operations whilst synchronised at picosecond timescales. Conventional DC-carrying cables and high frequency transmission lines bring the signals to and from the quantum processor. A central controller orchestrates the interaction between the control signals. Room temperature vector sources, arbitrary wave generators and vector switches are used to generate and steer the required analog signals to perform the qubit operations and readout. The modularity of the system allows for future integration of cryogenic control hardware currently under development such as Horse Ridge, and hardware developed in Quantum Delft.

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  Tuna-5, Spin-2, and Starmon-7

  Quantum processors

  As a registered user you have access to two programmable quantum processors and two simulators:

  • Tuna-5: a 5-qubit processor based on superconducting transmon qubits with flux tunable qubit couplers
  • SPIN-2: a 2-qubit processor based on single electron spin qubits in Silicon (offline)
  • STARMON-7: a 7-qubit processor based on superconducting transmon qubits
  • QX emulator: Programmable quantum computer simulator up to 26 qubits
  • Rydberg emulator