Neutral-atom quantum hardware developer Pasqal has published a comprehensive architectural roadmap detailing the deployment and operational integration of its quantum processing units (QPUs) within high-performance computing (HPC) and supercomputing data centers. Moving beyond isolated laboratory hardware demonstrations, the multi-tiered initiative highlights the field-level deployment of neutral-atom systems at major European computing facilities, alongside multi-vendor software and hardware co-design partnerships with IBM, NVIDIA, SchedMD, and HPC-Gridware GmbH.
[ Traditional HPC Workload (Slurm / Grid Engine) ]
│
▼
[ Pasqal Open-Source Warden Layer ]
│
┌─────────────────┴─────────────────┐
▼ (QRMI Protocol) ▼ (QRMI Protocol)
[ Classical CPU / GPU Nodes ] [ Pasqal Neutral-Atom QPU ]
Production-Grade Infrastructure Deployments and Schedulable Resource Protocols
Pasqal is actively transitioning neutral-atom QPUs into production environments under the European HPCQS (High-Performance Computer and Quantum Simulator hybrid) project. The company’s hardware assemblies have been physically integrated alongside NVIDIA accelerated computing nodes at the CEA (Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives) in France and Forschungszentrum Jülich in Germany. Concurrently, Pasqal has inaugurated Italy’s first sovereign neutral-atom quantum computer at the CINECA interuniversity supercomputing consortium.
To manage these hardware assets without disrupting standard data center operations, Pasqal has developed an open-source software orchestration layer called Warden. Because QPUs exhibit unique operational profiles—requiring deterministic time blocks for laser alignment, atomic trapping configurations, and localized calibration cycles—they cannot be managed effectively by legacy classical schedulers. The Warden layer acts as a quantum-aware intermediate translation bridge, separating high-level workload management from granular QPU hardware execution.
[ Unified Resource Interfaces (QRMI) ]
Specification Origins ──► Joint initiative originally established by IBM.
Collaborative Core ──► Developed by Pasqal, STFC Hartree Centre, and RPI.
Scheduler Adaptations ──► Slurm (SchedMD) and Open Cluster Scheduler (HPC-Gridware).
A core element of this scheduling framework is the Quantum Resource Management Interface (QRMI) specification. Originating from an initial blueprint established by IBM, the vendor-neutral QRMI standard has been collaboratively developed by Pasqal, the STFC Hartree Centre, and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). QRMI allows system administrators to treat a neutral-atom QPU as a standard schedulable asset, identical to a classical CPU or GPU cluster.
The initial software adaptation was validated via custom plugins developed for the Slurm workload manager by SchedMD. Pasqal has since extended QRMI compatibility to the Open Cluster Scheduler (a Grid Engine-compatible framework) via an engineering partnership with HPC-Gridware GmbH, proving the protocol’s portability across disparate enterprise data center management layers.
Cross-Platform Software Frameworks and Low-Latency Hardware Couplings
Pasqal’s cross-platform development strategy spans separate, high-density partnerships targeting both the cloud software stack and the low-level physical control layers:
- IBM Software Layer Alignment: As a formalized member of the IBM Quantum Network, Pasqal has co-developed a shared software stack that includes the specialized
Qiskit-Pasqalprovider extension. This integration allows corporate and academic researchers to compile and execute native Qiskit code blocks straight onto Pasqal’s neutral-atom arrays without modifying their high-level development environments. This alignment underpins a shared quantum advantage benchmark framework focused on hardware scaling, job execution throughput, and supercomputing node utilization metrics. - NVIDIA Accelerated Compute Topologies: Operating as a member of the NVIDIA Inception program, Pasqal has linked its physical architectures with NVIDIA’s accelerated compute stacks across three distinct technical boundaries:
- Application Layer: Native integration of Pasqal hardware controls with the NVIDIA CUDA-Q compilation platform.
- Workflow Layer: Direct coupling of CUDA-Q with the QRMI protocol to support automated hybrid algorithmic pipelines.
- Hardware Layer: Low-level engineering support for NVIDIA NVQLink, an open hardware architecture designed to enable high-throughput, ultra-low-latency interconnects between GPU accelerators and QPU control electronics. This tight coupling is critical for real-time error mitigation, algorithmic feedback loops, and dynamic quantum error correction (QEC) schemes.
[ Open Ecosystem Frameworks ]
openQSE Reference Blueprint ──■■■ Shared reference model for hybrid software stacks.
Open Compute Project (OCP) ──■■■ White paper analyzing data center deployment constraints.
EQS3 Summit Series ──■■■ Continuous cross-industry hardware standardization.
Standardized Architecture Blueprints for the Global Data Center Ecosystem
To drive industry-wide uniformity, Pasqal regularly contributes its field data to open-standard consortia. The company recently supported the creation of the Open Quantum-HPC Software Ecosystem (openQSE) reference architecture, which analyzes and catalogs existing hybrid solutions to establish a uniform software stack template for public supercomputing centers.
Furthermore, Pasqal co-authored an Open Compute Project (OCP) technical white paper outlining the precise mechanical, thermal, and electrical deployment boundaries required to operate neutral-atom vacuum chambers and laser control fields inside standard commercial data centers, while maintaining an active contribution path through the European Quantum Systems and Software Summit (EQS3) series.
The complete technical specifications and data center deployment blueprints can be reviewed in the official Pasqal Integration Report here, with broader ecosystem updates on microsecond GPU-to-qubit coupling tracked via the NVIDIA AI Infrastructure Briefing here.
June 26, 2026
