Insider Brief:
- Nu Quantum is collaborating with CERN’s White Rabbit technology to create highly synchronized, data-center-scale quantum computing networks, marking it as the first quantum industrial partner in the WR Collaboration.
- They are set to preview their Quantum Networking Unit, which enables distributed quantum computing by connecting multiple nodes, at the National Quantum Technology Showcase in London, with full system delivery targeted for March 2025.
- The QNU’s optics module, already calibrated and exceeding performance expectations, exemplifies how WR’s sub-nanosecond timing precision supports the orchestration and entanglement essential for scaling quantum networks in practical, data-center environments.
- Image: Article image caption: NQ staff members, pictured L-R: Phil Dolan (Principal Optics Engineer), Ed Wood (VP Product), Shareef Jalloq (Principal Control Engineer), Simone Eizagirre Barker (Product Manager), and Jonah Foley (FPGA Engineer)
PRESS RELEASE — Nu Quantum, the leading quantum entanglement startup, is adopting CERN-born White Rabbit (WR) technology to enable data-centre scale quantum computing networks. WR enables highly precise timing synchronisation which is crucial for developing large-scale quantum networks. Nu Quantum is the first quantum industrial partner to join the WR Collaboration. The Nu Quantum team will also be previewing their Quantum Networking Unit (QNU) at the National Quantum Technology Showcase in London, a technology that will enable multiple quantum computing nodes to be woven together into a distributed quantum computing machine. This approach is essential to scale-out quantum computing and unlock transformative computational power to tackle outstanding challenges in industry and society.
Today’s control systems typically employ a mix of proprietary protocols and hard-wired connections that are challenging to scale and struggle to synchronise events to a common clock. Nu Quantum has adopted White Rabbit (WR), an open-source technology born at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, as part of a joint effort with companies and institutes. WR allows timing synchronisation with sub-nanosecond accuracy, while also providing an Ethernet network for control, distribution and data acquisition. This level of synchronisation is important to create the entanglement between computers which establishes the quantum network. In support of the QNU prototype integration, Nu Quantum is proud to join the WR Collaboration, an initiative launched by CERN to foster the uptake of the technology by industry.
Nu Quantum has now successfully instantiated the control-plane hardware and benchmarked the optical sub-systems, with delivery of the full system on target for March 2025. The first instantiation of the QNU’s Optics Module has been built and calibrated, and its performance exceeds expectation.
Ed Wood, VP of Product at Nu Quantum, said: “A first-of-its-kind product, the QNU brings the industry closer to quantum networking solutions that can be deployed in the data centre. The high-value systems we are creating need very precise and synchronised orchestration: WR is the perfect tool to deliver this, and we are delighted to be collaborating with CERN to make it happen. We are thrilled to be previewing our Quantum Networking Unit prototype at the NQTS, a highlight of the UK’s quantum calendar.”
Edoardo Martelli, coordinator of CERN’s Quantum Technology Initiative activities in quantum networking says: “It is fantastic to see how a technology originally developed to synchronise CERN’s accelerators can play a key role in enabling future quantum computing and networking.”
“It’s great to welcome Nu Quantum to the White Rabbit Collaboration, an initiative created to support the uptake by industry of the WR technology and foster its impact in society. We look forward to continuing to work with Nu Quantum on the quantum networks of the future.” says Javier Serrano, Chair of the White Rabbit Collaboration Board and co-inventor of the White Rabbit technology at CERN.
About the world’s first Quantum Networking Unit (QNU)
As a category-defining product, the QNU will perform an analogous function in the quantum world as the IP switching fabric does in a conventional data centre. By defining a clean separation of the Control plane from the Quantum / optics plane, the QNU will allow independent evolution of capability and performance. The modular aspect of the system means that it can be readily customised for specific wavelengths to support different qubit modalities, for example specific ion or atom species. As lower-loss and higher-speed photonics are developed, the system can be upgraded to take advantage of this – offering better entanglement performance and increased scale of connectivity. Delivery of the full system is on target for March 2025.
About White Rabbit
White Rabbit (WR) is a technology developed at CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics CERN, as part of a joint effort with institutes and companies, to synchronise devices in the accelerators down to sub-nanoseconds and solve the challenge of establishing a common notion of time across a network. In 2020, WR was included in the worldwide industry standard known as Precision Time Protocol (PTP), governed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). In 2024, CERN launched the White Rabbit Collaboration, a membership-based global community bringing stakeholders of the technology together. The objective is to maintain a high-performance open-source technology that meets the needs of users and to facilitate its uptake by industry.
For more information: CERN launches the White Rabbit Collaboration | CERN (home.cern)
About CERN Quantum Technology Initiative
The CERN’s Quantum Technology Initiative of CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics, explores how emerging quantum technologies can impact particle physics research, while at the same time contributing to the development of these same technologies, by facilitating the transfer of expertise and technology to industry.
For the past 20 years, CERN has played a leading role in the design, deployment, and operations of the Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG), at the base of the revolution that has led to modern distributed computing infrastructures and Cloud computing. With the advent of quantum technologies, CERN seeks to contribute to future quantum networking technologies, setting the ground to meet CERN’s future needs while at the same time contributing innovations to society.
For more information: Quantum communication | CERN QTI
About Nu Quantum
Nu Quantum is creating the Entanglement Fabric for quantum computing scale-out. Quantum computing can solve some of the world’s biggest problems, but these applications require systems that are thousands of times more powerful than those available today. Our networking architecture will unlock data centre-scale quantum computing by weaving together quantum processors to accelerate the path to fault-tolerance and transformational utility.
Founded in 2018, Nu Quantum is a spin-out of the University of Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory. In November 2023, the company raised a £8.5M pre-series A round from main investors Amadeus Capital Partners, Expeditions Fund, and IQ Capital. The company also announced the first Qubit-Photon Interface (QPI), the equivalent of a network interface card, in October 2024.
