Software Architectures for Real-Time Quantum Control Systems

• Main Author: Riesebos, Leon
• Format: Dissertation
• Language: English
• Published: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01-01-2022
• Subjects: Computer Engineering; Computer science; Electrical engineering
• ISBN: 9798368476766

Quantum computing is an emerging technology with the potential to provide computational power beyond the capabilities of current computers. The field of quantum computing is evolving rapidly, and small-scale quantum physics experiments have grown into commercial quantum systems with tens of qubits. While qubits are at the center of the quantum computer, complex classical control systems are required to operate them. Current state-of-the-art quantum systems already require tens to hundreds of devices to be controlled with high precision, and the complexity will further increase for larger quantum systems. Hence, building the next generation of quantum computers will not only be a physics challenge, but also a significant engineering challenge covering the fields of electrical engineering, computer engineering, and computer science. This thesis focuses on the computer engineering and computer science challenges faced when building the next generation of quantum computers. We show that well-designed software architectures for quantum control systems can yield significant improvements in software performance, modularity, and portability. Software testing and validation are essential to ensure quality, and we show that we can perform fast and accurate functional simulations of real-time quantum control software. Efficient calibration of quantum systems is also a challenge, and we introduce a graph-based approach to address the calibration challenge. Finally, we present a graph-based pulse representation to enable pulse-level access for quantum systems.