Interest and investment are increasing in quantum computing, but the devices are still a bit of a black box where performance is concerned. With so many variables affecting performance, it is difficult for analysts to compare devices or even computational results.
In a blog post, a team of IBM scientists report on a new quantum metric designed to measure of speed that it calls CLOPS, or Circuit Layer Operations Per Second.
The metric describes how fast a quantum processor can execute circuits, the post indicates.
“Specifically, the metric measures the speed the processor can execute layers of a parameterized model circuit of the same sort used to measure Quantum Volume,” the IBM researchers report.
In a similar vein of logic circuits for classical computers, quantum circuits for the basic unit of quantum computation.
According to the researchers: “The benchmark requires execution of many instances of this model circuit with different parameters generated at runtime. Various parts of this hardware-software stack contribute to CLOPS, including the repetition rate of the quantum processor, the speed at which gates run, the runtime compilation, the amount of time it takes to generate the classical control instructions, and finally, the data transfer rate among all units.”
The fastest IBM systems can run up to 1,400 circuit layer operations per second, the team added.
The IBM team included: Jay Gambetta, Ali Javadi-Abhari, Blake Johnson. Petar Jurcevic, Hanhee Paik and Andrew Wack.
For more market insights, check out our latest quantum computing news here.
