Topic Overview

We are exploring architectures to hierarchically and seamlessly integrate classical computers, supercomputers, and quantum computers into an organic system.
Our goal is to develop a framework and programming environment that allows users to easily test algorithms for problem-solving and execute them seamlessly on supercomputers.

Research and development organization

Research and Development Project Leader

Miwako Tsuji (The University of Tsukuba Center for Computational Sciences Professor)

Participating institutions (Educational)

The University of Tokyo / Keio University / RIKEN (Rikagaku Kenkyūsho)

Participating institutions (Corporate)

Oxford Quantum Circuits Limited / NVIDIA Corporation / AZLAB, Inc.

Characteristics of this topic

  • Design of architecture of QC and HPC hybrid computing system: Compilation and dispatch/scheduling for HPC/near-QC/QC for near future QC-HPC system, and which component to be assigned to which levels and components
  • Programming models and frameworks for QC HPC hybrid computing: the programming system should enable users to make use of QC HPC hybrid platform seamlessly.
  • Acceleration of QC simulation: Using large-scale supercomputer (Fugaku), GPU cluster and multi-FPGA boards
  • Optimization of QC circuits and algorithms, and QC compiler
  • Optimization and cooperation of quantum computers and classic computers at the level of control and measurement to quantum devices

Overview of quantum-HPC hybrid system of this topic

Research Highlights

Programming models and framework for quantum HPC hybrid computing

  • Ongoing research and design on system software to integrate quantum computers with supercomputers.
  • As the number of qubits increases, the computational requirements for error mitigation and circuit optimization also increase, making collaboration with high-performance computing (HPC) crucial.
  • We designed and implemented a prototype of a remote invocation mechanism, which allowed us to execute quantum computing simulations on GPU servers connected through a local area network from HPC systems.
  • We are investigating the software stack for the integration of quantum computers and HPC through remote invocation with co-scheduling of both QC and HPC.
  • We are also investigating programming models, considering workflow programming and the Single Program Multiple Process (SPMP) model.

Design of fast quantum computer simulator by FPGA device

  • We are working on the implementation of a quantum computer simulator by using an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) device.
  • The state vector method can accurately simulate the operation of a quantum computer, but it requires vast amounts of memory and access bandwidth.
  • Our design using FPGA devices can accommodate a large amount of memory by connecting multiple SSDs, enabling efficient computation of quantum gate operations.
  • We are developing a quantum computer simulator using an FPGA board called Trefoil.
  • In the implemented FPGA circuitry, we have realized operations of H gate, S gate, CNOT gate, and 2-qubit gates.
  • By using four boards, we can achieve parallel processing with 128 instances, allowing for the simulation of 34 qubits.
  • To our best knowledge, our design using FPGA devices for quantum computer simulation is new, especially because of utilizing multiple SATA disks.

Quantum–classical coordination and optimization at the quantum device control/readout level

  • In the development of processors for optical quantum computers, a timing synchronization system that is necessary for processing non-classical light is being constructed.
  • We are investigating efficient simulation methods for Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill (GKP) states and optimizing pulse sequences for error correction purposes.
  • Efficient simulation methods for high-dimensional harmonic oscillators to facilitate the simulation of large-scale quantum states are also in development.

Future Prospects

Goals for building a quantum HPC infrastructure:

  • Design of API and programming model for comprehensive quantum–classical HPC programming.
  • Establishment of an automatic and efficient general-purpose quantum circuit optimization technology platform.
  • The platform is to be provided for verification of quantum/classical optimization,gate-based quantum computing, and quantum/classical machine learning computations.

Future milestones of this topic:

  • Release of integrated programming software for quantum HPC hybrid computing.
  • Public release of quantum–classical HPC hybrid platform and its system software.
  • Realization of quantum AI prediction using classical devices, such as mobiles and laptops.