Quantum Control Processor Sub-Circuit Parallelism

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Solution Overview

Problem

The complexity of quantum control microarchitectures increases significantly as the number of qubits increases, leading to scalability issues due to distributed architectures, which result in increased complexity of system structure, synchronization between hardware sub-modules, and compiler complexity.

Innovation Solution

A quantum control system with a scheduler, instruction memory, and multiple processing units, each with private instruction caches, that divides a quantum circuit into sub-circuits for parallel execution, allowing instructions for multiple sub-circuits to be executed simultaneously by multiple processing units, thereby reducing complexity and improving scalability.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Productivity

If a distributed architecture is used where each qubit has an independent hardware sub-module, then instruction parallelism is resolved and each qubit can execute instructions independently, but the system structure complexity, synchronization complexity, and compiler complexity substantially increase as the number of qubits increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinstruction parallelismVSAvoidsystem structure complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges multiple independent hardware sub-modules into a unified processor structure. Instead of having separate control modules for each qubit, the invention combines them into a single processor that can handle multiple qubits through a unified instruction execution pipeline, thereby reducing system structure complexity while maintaining parallelism capabilities

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The processor is designed with multi-functional capabilities to handle different qubit operations through a single unified structure. The processor can dynamically allocate resources and execute instructions for multiple qubits using the same hardware infrastructure, eliminating the need for dedicated sub-modules for each qubit and reducing overall system complexity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Productivity

If a distributed architecture is used where each qubit has an independent hardware sub-module, then instruction parallelism is resolved, but the synchronization complexity between hardware sub-modules substantially increases as the number of qubits increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinstruction parallelismVSAvoidsynchronization complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges the synchronization functions into a centralized control mechanism within the unified processor. Instead of requiring complex inter-sub-module synchronization protocols, the unified processor structure enables centralized coordination of qubit operations, significantly reducing synchronization complexity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The unified processor acts as an intermediary that mediates between the control unit and multiple qubits. It manages the timing and coordination of operations across different qubits through a standardized interface, eliminating the need for direct synchronization between independent sub-modules and reducing synchronization complexity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Productivity

If a distributed architecture is used where each qubit has an independent hardware sub-module, then instruction parallelism is resolved, but the compiler complexity substantially increases as the number of qubits increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveinstruction parallelismVSAvoidcompiler complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The processor provides universal instruction handling capabilities that work across all qubits through a standardized interface. This universality simplifies the compiler's task, as it needs to generate instructions for a single unified processor type rather than customizing instructions for each independent sub-module, thereby reducing compiler complexity

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent segments the instruction execution process into standardized stages that can be uniformly applied to different qubits. By dividing the compilation and execution process into modular, reusable components, the compiler can efficiently generate parallel instructions without dealing with the complexity of individual qubit-specific configurations

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Data Source

PatentEP4095766B1Quantum control system, quantum control processor, and execution method for quantum instruction set
Publication Date: 2023.08.30 TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) CO LTD
  • EP4095766B1 patent drawingFigure 1~2
  • EP4095766B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4
  • EP4095766B1 patent drawingFigure 5

AI summary

A quantum control system, a quantum control processor, and a method for executing an instruction are provided. The quantum control system includes: a scheduler, an instruction memory, multiple processing units, and corresponding private instruction caches. The scheduler is configured to determine k sub-circuits executed in parallel in a quantum circuit, k being an integer greater than 1 and not greater than n; obtain instructions corresponding to the k sub-circuits from the instruction memory, and respectively store the instructions into private instruction caches corresponding to k processing units. A target processing unit of the k processing units is configured to obtain an instruction corresponding to a target sub-circuit of the k sub-circuits from a private instruction cache corresponding to the target processing unit for execution, the k processing units executing respective instructions in parallel. A solution of sub-circuit-level parallelism is provided, thereby achieving better scalability for more complex quantum applications as qubits increase.