Key Moments
- Cisco Systems and Qunnect reported operating a quantum network over 17.6 kilometers (10.9 miles) of live fiber between Brooklyn and Manhattan.
- Qunnect’s architecture centralized cryogenic cooling at a single hub while enabling connected data centers to operate with room-temperature equipment.
- Cisco described the trial as “foundational” for future quantum data center interconnects and a potential quantum internet, with applications including stock trading.
Field Trial Links Brooklyn and Manhattan
Cisco Systems and Qunnect said on Wednesday that they have successfully created and run a quantum network between Brooklyn and Manhattan in New York, transmitting quantum signals over existing fiber optic cables while achieving performance comparable to controlled laboratory environments.
The deployment relied on hardware developed by Brooklyn, New York-based Qunnect and software from Cisco. According to the companies, the test addressed several significant obstacles involved in implementing quantum networking within current data centers and dense urban infrastructure.
Architecture Centralizes Cooling Requirements
Quantum computing systems leverage quantum physics to handle computations that would take traditional computers thousands of years, but they typically depend on substantial cryogenic cooling systems.
Qunnect CEO Noel Goddard said the company’s design requires cryogenic cooling only at one central hub. Data centers linked to that central point can instead rely on equipment that operates at room temperature.
Stabilizing Quantum Signals Over City Fiber
Quantum computers and quantum networks are usually highly vulnerable to even minimal environmental disturbances. A research paper published by Cisco and Qunnect stated that Qunnect’s technology – specifically devices called automatic polarization controllers – maintained the stability of the quantum network over a 17.6 kilometer (10.9 mile) segment of fiber optic cable.
“It corrects for real-world problems,” Goddard said, noting that “data centers have these tens of kilometers of fiber, and they run through all sorts of different patch panels, all of the things that make it look like a rat’s nest.”
| Network Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Route | Between Brooklyn and Manhattan, New York |
| Fiber distance | 17.6 kilometers (10.9 miles) |
| Key hardware | Qunnect automatic polarization controllers |
| Cooling model | Cryogenic cooling at central hub; room-temperature equipment at connected data centers |
Cisco’s Quantum Networking Ambitions
Ramana Kompella, vice president and head of Cisco Research, described the outcome of the trial as “foundational” for the company’s longer-term vision of first linking quantum computers within a data center and subsequently interconnecting those quantum-enabled data centers into a broader quantum internet.
Potential Use Cases in Finance
In the near term, Kompella said that practical quantum networks could support activities such as stock trading.
A quantum method known as “teleportation” can enable spatially separated computers to share information instantaneously, rather than requiring a few milliseconds to transfer data at the speed of light.
“Trading computers that are tens of kilometers away, and they want to make a coordinated decision or a stock sell or a buy, without hitting the speed of light limitations you typically have. Quantum entanglement networks can actually really help,” Kompella said.
TradingPedia.com is a financial media specialized in providing daily news and education covering Forex, equities and commodities. Our academies for traders cover 
