Cisco quantum network controller lets apps order entanglement on demand
Cisco’s Quantum Network Controller prototype lets applications order entanglement on demand across a shared fabric.
Cisco introduced a Quantum Network Controller research prototype that lets applications request entanglement by specifying endpoints, rate, fidelity, and timing while the network schedules delivery. It sits on a hardware abstraction layer over Cisco’s Universal Quantum Switch and exposes Entanglement-as-a-Service to compilers and apps such as Quantum Alert and Quantum Sync. In February 2026, Cisco software coordinated multi-node entanglement distribution and swapping over 17.6 km of commercial fiber in New York City, with polarization fidelity above 99 percent at room temperature. Hardware from Qunnect and Swabian Instruments uses the same interfaces.
- Controller schedules entanglement so operators need not configure each link by hand.
- Applications request endpoints, rate, fidelity, and timing without hardware details.
- February 2026 NYC fiber test exceeded 99 percent fidelity over 17.6 km.
- Network-Aware Quantum Compiler is the first native application.
- Qunnect and Swabian Instruments plug into the abstraction layer.
From the original article
2 min read at helpnetsecurity.com
Cisco has built a Quantum Network Controller, a research prototype that lets an application ask a quantum network for entanglement and leaves the network to work out the delivery. Entanglement, a linked quantum state shared between distant points, is the resource these networks distribute, and operators today set up the hardware that produces it device by device, link by link.
By Anamarija Pogorelec · helpnetsecurity.com
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