Tennessee-based EPB tapped into its partnership with Aliro Quantum to add configuration and management software to its network used to test developing quantum technologies. With the announcement, CEO of EPB David Wade called the network the industry’s “first software-defined quantum network.”
With AliroNet’s graphical interface, quantum developers on the network can either choose a predefined network configuration or work with EPB’s engineers to implement customized configurations based on specified parameters. EPB initially chose Boston-based Aliro in February to provide the quantum network’s controller through the company’s AliroNet software product.
AlironNet can be used in three modes to emulate entanglement-based quantum networks, implement small scale pilots and deploy full-scale networks.
The EPB network and AliroNet interface are designed so that customers can return to previous configurations, providing an element of adaptability for nascent quantum projects.
“We're really thrilled about the ability to create a space that is reconfigurable for individual needs and is able to be reconfigured at a time later down the road,” said Wade at a press event.
In tandem with Qubitekk, a company that builds hardware and software for quantum networks, EPB in December 2022 announced the first commercially available quantum network in the U.S. Running across downtown Chattanooga, the quantum network includes 216 dedicated dark fibers with capacity for 10 quantum interconnected nodes.
EPB’s 9,000-mile community fiber optic network in Chattanooga is separate from the quantum network, which is specifically dedicated for the purpose of working with companies that are proving out and commercializing their quantum technologies. The company has called it a “quantum-as-a-service offering.”
In July the company announced a new subscription model for quantum developers to access the network. “We looked at the other options people have to test their equipment in the marketplace and there's just a lot of barriers,” Kirk McLemore, EPB’s business development account manager, told Fierce Telecom at the time. "We want to knock down those walls."
When working on EPB’s quantum network, developers have the assurance that they retain their IP.
And unlike most grant programs that have a start and end date, the EPB subscription model is flexible. Some developers might use one of the quantum nodes on the network for a couple of hours, while others may want to sublet space close by, in Chattanooga, for long-term testing.
Bringing business to Chattanooga has been a core part of EPB’s quantum network vision since the company’s start.
“There may be some -- we're hoping -- that might even want to establish brick and mortar here,” McLemore said. “They want to be near the network, set up an office where they can have a more permanent type situation.”