Logo
ScienceStack
Table of Contents
Fetching ...
Sign In

Dependable Classical-Quantum Computer Systems Engineering

Edoardo Giusto, Santiago Nuñez-Corrales, Phuong Cao, Alessandro Cilardo, Ravishankar K. Iyer, Weiwen Jiang, Paolo Rech, Flavio Vella, Bartolomeo Montrucchio, Samudra Dasgupta, Travis S. Humble

TL;DR

This work addresses the dependability challenges of integrating quantum computing into classical HPC to form HPC-QC. It proposes a framework built on three pillars—reproducibility, resiliency, and security/privacy—and details concrete methods such as statistical reproducibility metrics with the Hellinger distance, end-to-end compilation/verification for hybrid stacks, and privacy-preserving approaches including a Trusted Quantum Computing Base. The paper outlines practical resilience strategies (QES/QEM/QEC), discusses security threats from quantum-enabled adversaries, and highlights the need for open testbeds and cross-disciplinary co-design to accelerate maturation. The anticipated impact is to provide engineering principles and a roadmap that enables dependable, scalable, and secure HPC-QC platforms for real-world scientific workloads.

Abstract

Quantum Computing (QC) offers the potential to enhance traditional High-Performance Computing (HPC) workloads by leveraging the unique properties of quantum computers, leading to the emergence of a new paradigm: HPC-QC. While this integration presents new opportunities, it also brings novel challenges, particularly in ensuring the dependability of such hybrid systems. This paper aims to identify integration challenges, anticipate failures, and foster a diverse co-design for HPC-QC systems by bringing together QC, cloud computing, HPC, and network security. The focus of this emerging inter-disciplinary effort is to develop engineering principles that ensure the dependability of hybrid systems, aiming for a more prescriptive co-design cycle. Our framework will help to prevent design pitfalls and accelerate the maturation of the QC technology ecosystem. Key aspects include building resilient HPC-QC systems, analyzing the applicability of conventional techniques to the quantum domain, and exploring the complexity of scaling in such hybrid systems. This underscores the need for performance-reliability metrics specific to this new computational paradigm.

Dependable Classical-Quantum Computer Systems Engineering

TL;DR

This work addresses the dependability challenges of integrating quantum computing into classical HPC to form HPC-QC. It proposes a framework built on three pillars—reproducibility, resiliency, and security/privacy—and details concrete methods such as statistical reproducibility metrics with the Hellinger distance, end-to-end compilation/verification for hybrid stacks, and privacy-preserving approaches including a Trusted Quantum Computing Base. The paper outlines practical resilience strategies (QES/QEM/QEC), discusses security threats from quantum-enabled adversaries, and highlights the need for open testbeds and cross-disciplinary co-design to accelerate maturation. The anticipated impact is to provide engineering principles and a roadmap that enables dependable, scalable, and secure HPC-QC platforms for real-world scientific workloads.

Abstract

Quantum Computing (QC) offers the potential to enhance traditional High-Performance Computing (HPC) workloads by leveraging the unique properties of quantum computers, leading to the emergence of a new paradigm: HPC-QC. While this integration presents new opportunities, it also brings novel challenges, particularly in ensuring the dependability of such hybrid systems. This paper aims to identify integration challenges, anticipate failures, and foster a diverse co-design for HPC-QC systems by bringing together QC, cloud computing, HPC, and network security. The focus of this emerging inter-disciplinary effort is to develop engineering principles that ensure the dependability of hybrid systems, aiming for a more prescriptive co-design cycle. Our framework will help to prevent design pitfalls and accelerate the maturation of the QC technology ecosystem. Key aspects include building resilient HPC-QC systems, analyzing the applicability of conventional techniques to the quantum domain, and exploring the complexity of scaling in such hybrid systems. This underscores the need for performance-reliability metrics specific to this new computational paradigm.
Paper Structure (15 sections, 4 equations, 5 figures)

This paper contains 15 sections, 4 equations, 5 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Reproducibility
  3. Accuracy vs. stability
  4. Measuring quantum reproducibility
  5. Resiliency
  6. Compilation and verification
  7. Fault management
  8. Security & Privacy
  9. Quantum-driven adversaries against Quantum and Classical systems
  10. Attacks at the surface of HPC-QC integration
  11. Privacy concerns in integrated HPC-QC platforms
  12. Pure cryptography-based privacy-preserving approach
  13. A Trusted Quantum Computing Base (TQCB) for privacy-preserving
  14. Discussion
  15. Conclusion

Figures (5)

  • Figure 1: The Venn diagram highlights the intersection of reproducibility, resiliency and security in creating dependable computing systems.
  • Figure 2: Dependability pillars in HPC-QC high-level architecture
  • Figure 3: Classical techniques available at each level of a system.
  • Figure 4: Resiliency measures in relation to the fault cycle of a classical system.
  • Figure 5: Roadmap for Dependable HPC-QC.