ARLINGTON, Va. – U.S. military researchers will brief industry on 11 May 2023 on an upcoming project to develop a hybrid quantum-classical communication network to enable quantum enhancements to information security and covertness on today’s classical military networks.
Officials of the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in Arlington, Va., will outline the upcoming Quantum Augmented Network (QuANET) from 8:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. eastern time at the DARPA Conference Center at 675 N. Randolph St. in Arlington, Va.
The QuANET program seeks to augment existing software infrastructure and network protocols with quantum properties to mitigate some of the attack vectors that are pervasive on classical (non-quantum) networks.
The program blend existing quantum communications into networks operating today in military and critical infrastructure. Quantum information must co-exist with classical information (quantum-classical interoperability).
The project will involve quantum-time synchronization augmenting clock synchronization tasks and time-of-flight tests; quantum sensing and metrology in a communication paradigm to augment situational awareness around message propagation; and embedding classical information into quantum systems to mitigate information theft and data corruption.
The QuANET program will measure the success of quantum networking by measuring its ability to prevent rogue and counterfeit nodes from accessing secure networks, route injections, and timing attacks.
QuANET seeks to build an environmentally hardened configurable network interface card that connects quantum links with classical computing nodes. This hardware design should extend capabilities already available in classical networks.
Hybrid quantum-classical network infrastructure will allow a wide range of networking and communication experts to develop additional applications for the technology.
Related: Trusted computing and the challenges of cryptographic algorithms in quantum computing
The industry briefings will include overview presentations by DARPA personnel with question-and-answer session following the presentations. Briefings also are to promote teaming arrangements.
Companies interested should register for the QuANET industry briefings online at https://creative.gryphontechnologies.com/darpa/i2o/quanet/pd/ no later than 5 May 2023. Attendance is open to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and foreign nationals.
Email questions or concerns to DARPA at [email protected]. More information is online at https://sam.gov/opp/310838340cf547d999218359659a63ef/view.
