During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the phrase ‘supply chain’ become vernacular usage. It was almost fashionable to chat on social media about the journey from where one’s outdoor tiles or medical prescriptions or ceiling light panels came. Humans in western societies became sensitized to these supply chains. For some people, the new attention to supply chains became a source of anxiety. For others, our Earth became transformed into a much more interesting, connected, social planet, which we visualized as covered with moving chains.
Control and Readout Electronics
The most startling graphic in GQI’s Focus Report: Global Quantum Supply Chain Report (*) is its figure, with a last column, of criticality values, colored almost completely in red. See next figure. The column is Control and Readout Electronics, with a 4—5 criticality value. This value means it is a system that significantly impacts the effectiveness or efficiency of the quantum platform. There’s a high likelihood that alternatives, if any, might not deliver the same performance. Unlike the Helium-3 criticality values, which impact mostly superconducting and silicon spin quantum computing platforms, the Control and Readout Electronics System has a high criticality value across almost all quantum computing platforms.
These elements are essential for converting quantum states into practical information. The Control Logic hardware drives the control plane signals. The control plane signals include sophisticated protocols for error suppression during measurement and gate operations, as well as the system’s initial and ongoing calibration for the best possible control of the qubits.
In particular, the Control and Readout Electronics covers:
- Control and Readout Electronics (Control Logic – hardware):
- Connectors and Cables: Establish connections between various quantum components.
- Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADCs): Convert analog signals from quantum systems to digital.
- Digital-to-Analog Converters (DACs): Produce control signals for quantum systems.
- I/O Blocks: Enable interfacing between different system components.
- Logic Blocks: Implement digital logic necessary for quantum operations.
- FPGAs and ASICs: Provide real-time control for quantum systems.
- Microcontrollers: Manage overall system operations in quantum setups.
- Configurable Memory: Store operational settings for quantum systems.
- Clocking Circuitry: Ensure synchronization of operations in quantum systems
GQI has an interactive Playbook (*), where one can select different components of the quantum technology device and learn the components’ sourced countries. See Next figure. For the Control and Readout Electronics, the countries of the sourced companies are USA (18.8%), Germany (2.7%), UK (2.2%), Japan (2.0%), China (1.1%), France (0.1%), Switzerland (0.4%), Finland (0.4%), S. Korea (0.7%), Lithuania (0.1%), Canada (0.1%). See next figure.
From GQI’s Focus Report: Global Quantum Supply Chain:
This criticality analysis not only underscores the essential nature of these component groups but also paints a rich picture of interdependence and specialization within the quantum technology ecosystem. It highlights where focus and resources must be directed to bolster the most critical elements of the quantum infrastructure, ensuring the continued innovation and functionality of quantum platforms.
Innovative Control Electronics Developments
The Advanced Quantum Testbed (AQT) at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, offers an Open-Source, Quantum Control Electronics Design, for Superconducting Quantum Information Processors, that aims to benefit from community actions.
The Quantum System Hub (QHub), a new gadget from Zurich Instruments, is intended to assist engineers in scaling up their quantum processors to sizes of up to 300 superconducting qubits. It has up to 56 Zsync ports, that can be used to synchronize up to 448 microwave channels by connecting to, and coordinating operations with, other Zurich Instrument devices, such as their SHFQA (Quantum Analyzer), SHFQC (Qubit Controller), SHFSG (Signal Generator), or HDAWG (Arbitrary Waveform Generator). The Star Architecture is essential to this technology.
As the most critical quantum technology component, it is not surprising that >100K patents aim to corner an indispensable part of the whole quantum device.
A $26 million investment in Qblox, last June, confirms the significance of Control and Readout Electronics and of Delft-based Qblox, a pioneer in this area.
Finally, if a newcomer to the quantum technology field is interested to know which subfields are most lucrative, the criticality provides an indicator as well.
(*) GQI’s Hardware Supply Chain Playbook operates on a principle of Exploration to follow ‘what-if’ scenarios, with immediate feedback to learn from where and how much one’s required quantum technology components enter the supply chain. GQI’s Focus Report: Global Quantum Supply Chain provides a unique 50-page in-depth study of the components of the quantum technology supply chain and their criticality.
(**) GQI’s Hardware Outlook Report is a 50 page summary of the ways which today’s quantum platforms need to radically scale-up to deliver on quantum computing’s true commercial promise.
If you are interested to learn more, please don’t hesitate to contact info@global-qi.com.
September 22, 2024
