Q-CTRL, a global leader in quantum technology, has integrated its Q-CTRL Embedded Quantum software with IBM Quantum’s Pay-As-You-Go Plan. This marks the first time a third-party software vendor’s technology will be available on the IBM Quantum Pay-As-You-Go Plan. The integration aims to provide user-friendly functionality to address the primary challenge facing quantum computing end-users: unreliable results from algorithms run on today’s hardware. The combination of Q-CTRL technology and IBM Quantum services reduces this burden, making it simpler to get useful results from real hardware by automatically addressing the problem of noise and hardware error.
Quantum Computing Software Integration with IBM Quantum Pay-As-You-Go Plan
Q-CTRL, a company specialising in quantum control infrastructure software, has integrated its Q-CTRL Embedded software with IBM Quantum’s Pay-As-You-Go Plan. This is thought to be the first time a third-party independent software vendor’s technology solution will be available for users to select in the IBM Quantum Pay-As-You-Go Plan. The integration aims to provide user-friendly functionality to address the primary challenge facing quantum computing end-users: Unreliable results from algorithms run on today’s hardware.
To maximise the utility of near-term quantum computers, expertise in an array of technical specialisations – algorithms, compilers, error suppression strategies, and error mitigation – is required. The combination of Q-CTRL technology and IBM Quantum services reduces this burden, making it simpler to get useful results from real hardware by automatically addressing the problem of noise and hardware error.
Companies and end-users are seeking streamlined ways to integrate useful quantum computing into their workflows and to better leverage their existing IT expertise. Q-CTRL’s state-of-the-art performance-management infrastructure software, Q-CTRL Embedded, delivers these benefits to users and will now be available as an option within the IBM Quantum Pay-As-You-Go Plan.
Enhanced Quantum Computing Performance with Q-CTRL Embedded
Q-CTRL Embedded delivers enhancements in computational accuracy and efficiency through a simple configuration-free setting. When the performance management option is selected, a fully configured autonomous toolchain is triggered in the background to suppress errors. Based on recently peer-reviewed research on this topic and new tests on utility-scale quantum systems, benefits can reach up to:
- 10X increase in the complexity of quantum algorithms they can run (measured through circuit depth), up to intrinsic hardware limits;
- 100X cost reduction relative to alternative research-grade error-reduction strategies by reducing the number of experimental “shots” required to suppress errors;
- >1,000X improvement in the success of quantum algorithms widely used in the sector.
These functionalities, in combination with the IBM Quantum development roadmap, aim to accelerate the path toward quantum advantage and allow end users from research to enterprise to gain the strategic advantages they’ve been seeking from their quantum applications.
User Experience and Feedback on Q-CTRL Embedded
Alpha-test customers include quantum technology startups, large industrial partners including Airbus, and Big Four consulting firms. Already, they’re seeing meaningful value by unlocking latent hardware performance. Julian van Velzen, CTIO & Head of Quantum Lab at Capgemini, expressed his impression by the order of magnitude improvement across the inverse quantum Fourier transform and quantum phase estimation. With this technology natively embedded within IBM Quantum services, they can get more value from current hardware and push their applications further.
One of the Big Four firms ran a compare-and-shift quantum gate algorithm for DNA sequencing and received a boost of 2x with the Q-CTRL’s performance management over the default 14 qubit configuration, resulting from unlocked latent performance. Building on this, the firm was able to increase the circuit complexity, and with 26 qubits, the combination of Q-CTRL’s native integration with IBM Quantum returned useful solutions for the first time.
Q-CTRL’s quantum control infrastructure software for R&D professionals and quantum computing end users delivers the highest performance error-correcting and suppressing techniques globally, and provides a unique capability accelerating the pathway to the first useful quantum computers and quantum sensors. Q-CTRL operates a globally leading quantum sensing division focused on software-level innovation for strategic capability. Q-CTRL also has developed Black Opal, an edtech platform that enables users to quickly learn quantum computing.
Founded by Michael J. Biercuk in 2017, Q-CTRL has pioneered the quantum infrastructure software segment, and has become the leading product-focused software company in the broader quantum sector. Q-CTRL has been an inaugural member of the IBM Quantum Network startup program since 2018, and its performance management software now runs natively on IBM Quantum computers. The company has international headquarters in Sydney, Los Angeles, Berlin, and London.
Q-CTRL’s Performance Management in Quantum Computing
Q-CTRL’s error suppression workflow delivers improved performance through a fully configured and automated AI-driven process that is invisible to users. Users benefit from Q-CTRL’s performance-management technology through performance and simplicity; all modules are preconfigured for a machine, optimized for peak performance, and built for interoperability, unlike standard research-grade tools. With Q-CTRL’s performance management option selected, all configuration is automatic and no additional overhead or code is required. The user experience can be brought close to the theoretical hardware maximum through Q-CTRL’s performance management option.
“Since we joined the IBM Quantum Network in 2018, we’ve been building the world’s most advanced infrastructure software for performance management in quantum computing,” said Q-CTRL CEO and Founder Michael J. Biercuk. “IBM has built a world-class quantum computing platform with the flexibility needed for experts like Q-CTRL to demonstrate new software able to dramatically improve the success of real quantum algorithms—detailed tests on a suite of benchmarking algorithms showed benefits up to thousands of times. We’re very excited to now bring these tools to the exceptional ecosystem of researchers and businesses building their quantum workflows on IBM hardware.”
“At IBM, our goal is to give our users the ability to run valuable quantum workloads beyond what can be simulated on classical computers. A core requirement to this is reducing noise. The noise suppression provided through Q-CTRL’s performance management makes exploring useful quantum circuits even easier. I very much look forward to what our users will be able to do with this newly added error-suppression technology,”
Jay Gambetta, IBM Fellow and Vice President, IBM Quantum.
“We have previously explored Q-CTRL’s performance management capabilities and were impressed by the order of magnitude improvement seen across both the inverse quantum Fourier transform and quantum phase estimation,” said Julian van Velzen, CTIO & Head of Quantum Lab at Capgemini. “With this technology natively embedded within IBM Quantum services, we can get more value from current hardware and push our applications further.”
Summary
Q-CTRL’s quantum infrastructure software, which aids in error suppression and performance management, has been integrated into IBM Quantum’s Pay-As-You-Go Plan, aiming to enhance the reliability of results from quantum computing algorithms. This integration simplifies the process of getting useful results from quantum hardware by automatically addressing noise and hardware error, potentially leading to significant improvements in computational accuracy and efficiency.
- Q-CTRL, a global leader in quantum technology, has integrated its Q-CTRL Embedded software with IBM Quantum’s Pay-As-You-Go Plan. This is the first time a third-party software vendor’s technology will be available on IBM’s plan.
- The integration aims to address the primary challenge in quantum computing: unreliable results from algorithms run on current hardware. The combination of Q-CTRL technology and IBM Quantum services aims to simplify the process and improve results by automatically addressing noise and hardware error.
- Q-CTRL’s software will now be available to any IBM Quantum Pay-As-You-Go Plan user at no additional cost. The software enhances computational accuracy and efficiency and suppresses errors.
- The software has shown significant improvements in the success of quantum algorithms, including a 10X increase in the complexity of quantum algorithms, a 100X cost reduction in error-reduction strategies, and a 1,000X improvement in the success of quantum algorithms.
- IBM Quantum’s goal is to enable users to run valuable quantum workloads beyond what can be simulated on classical computers. The noise suppression provided by Q-CTRL’s software makes this easier.
- Alpha-test customers include quantum technology startups, large industrial partners like Airbus, and Big Four consulting firms. These customers have reported meaningful value from the software.
- Q-CTRL was founded by Michael J. Biercuk in 2017 and has become a leading product-focused software company in the quantum sector.