IBM chose last week’s Consumer Electronics Show in las Vegas to unveil IBM Q System One, described as “the world’s first integrated universal approximate quantum computing system designed for scientific and commercial use”.
It boils down to the fact that IBM will make its quantum computing technology available to businesses that need serious computing prices but don’t want to invest in the infrastructure. In line with this strategy, the company also announced it will open its first IBM Q Quantum Computation Centre for commercial clients in Poughkeepsie, New York, this year.
IBM Q systems are designed for the future, to tackle problems that are currently seen as too complex and exponential in nature for classical systems to handle. Future applications of quantum computing may include finding new ways to model financial data and isolating key global risk factors to make better investments, or finding the optimal path across global systems for ultra-efficient logistics and optimising fleet operations for deliveries.
Much as classical computers combine multiple components into an integrated architecture optimised to work together, says IBM, it is applying the same approach to quantum computing with the first integrated universal quantum computing system.
Designed by IBM scientists, systems engineers and industrial designers, IBM Q System One has a sophisticated, modular and compact design optimised for stability, reliability and continuous commercial use. For the first time, IBM Q System One enables “universal approximate superconducting quantum computers” to operate beyond the confines of the research lab.
It is comprised of a number of custom components that work together to serve as the most advanced cloud-based quantum computing program available.
Click here for more on the components of IBM Q System One
The components of IBM Q System One include:
- Quantum hardware designed to be stable and auto-calibrated to give repeatable and predictable high-quality qubits;
- Cryogenic engineering that delivers a continuous cold and isolated quantum environment;
- High precision electronics in compact form factors to tightly control large numbers of qubits;
- Quantum firmware to manage the system health and enable system upgrades without downtime for users; and
- Classical computation to provide secure cloud access and hybrid execution of quantum algorithms.
Cryogenic engineering that delivers a continuous cold and isolated quantum environment;* High precision electronics in compact form factors to tightly control large numbers of qubits;* Quantum firmware to manage the system health and enable system upgrades without downtime for users; and* Classical computation to provide secure cloud access and hybrid execution of quantum algorithms.
“The IBM Q System One is a major step forward in the commercialisation of quantum computing,” said Arvind Krishna, senior vice president of Hybrid Cloud and director of IBM Research. “This new system is critical in expanding quantum computing beyond the walls of the research lab as we work to develop practical quantum applications for business and science.”
The design of IBM Q System One includes a 3-metre-tall, 3-metre-wide case of half-inch thick borosilicate glass forming a sealed, airtight enclosure that opens effortlessly using “roto-translation”. This is a motor-driven rotation around two displaced axes engineered to simplify the system’s maintenance and upgrade process while minimising downtime.
A series of independent aluminium and steel frames unify, but also decouple the system’s cryostat, control electronics, and exterior casing, helping to avoid potential vibration interference that leads to “phase jitter” and “qubit decoherence”.