Insider Brief
- Q-CTRL has launched Boulder Opal Scale Up, the world’s first autonomous calibration software for quantum processors, enabling plug-and-play startup of quantum systems without manual tuning.
- In collaboration with QuantWare and TreQ, Q-CTRL’s solution simplifies deployment of quantum computers for research labs and data centers, with applications now spanning QuantWare’s Contralto-A QPUs and Rigetti’s Novera hardware.
- The new software combines physics-informed AI with automation to drastically improve QPU calibration speed, testing efficiency, and scalability, positioning Q-CTRL as a key enabler in commercial quantum computing infrastructure.
PREE RELEASE – Q-CTRL, the global leader in quantum infrastructure software, is now delivering a world-first autonomous calibration solution for quantum computers. In partnership with QuantWare, a provider of quantum processor scaling technology, and TreQ, a quantum systems engineering and manufacturing company, Q-CTRL is now enabling push-button boot up of on-premises quantum processors.
This capability is the key to widespread deployment of quantum computers in research facilities, corporate R&D labs, and data centers, and follows recent scientific demonstrations of fully autonomous tune-up of an IBM processor.
Delivering useful results from today’s quantum computing hardware currently requires laborious, imprecise, serial, and manual tuning of all the various “control knobs” that govern quantum processing unit (QPU) performance. Intelligent autonomy is the solution that can enable QPUs to become ubiquitous computing engines in research facilities, corporate R&D labs, and data centers.
Q-CTRL’s Boulder Opal Scale Up solution combines PhD-level human intelligence with AI-driven automation to overcome this industry bottleneck. Built on the company’s track record of delivering peak QPU performance through physics-informed AI, Boulder Opal Scale Up provides an expert-configured and fully autonomous software solution to deliver fast, repeatable, and robust QPU characterization and calibration.
Boulder Opal Scale Up empowers quantum hardware manufacturers to create more efficient and scalable products through intelligently autonomous routines that boost operational efficiency while democratizing access to consistently high-performing quantum devices.
QuantWare’s customers will be able to leverage this autonomous calibration solution from Q-CTRL to significantly accelerate the construction of their quantum systems using QuantWare’s QPUs with their VIO scaling platform. By leveraging these solutions from Q-CTRL, any user can immediately achieve great performance on QuantWare QPUs with just a single line of code. This capability is critical for the rapid deployment and adoption of next-generation devices like Contralto-A, a 17-qubit tunable coupler QPU, making it easier than ever for customers to build faster and with greater confidence. QuantWare will also use Q-CTRL’s solution internally to optimize their test processes, improving the quality of their QPUs and effectively doubling their testing throughput.
“As we rapidly scale our devices thanks to VIO, tuning up systems built with our QPUs needs to be automated,” said Matthijs Rijlaarsdam, CEO of QuantWare. “We are excited not just to use Q-CTRL’s software internally, but especially to help our customers scale their systems faster and with confidence. Boulder Opal with Contralto-A is an extremely powerful combination that will greatly expand the capabilities of our customers.”
In addition, Q-CTRL has partnered with TreQ, a leading quantum computing system integrator, through a joint Innovate UK grant to deliver a complete modular compute system to end-users. Through the Open Architecture Quantum (OAQ) Testbed – powered by Q-CTRL’s Boulder Opal Scale Up solution – end users will benefit from access to a complete system operated the calibration experience as used by QuantWare, now also addressing Novera hardware provided by Rigetti.
“The OAQ Testbed project pushes the bounds of quantum computing systems,” said Dr Joseph Rahamim, Director of Systems Engineering at TreQ. “By integrating software and hardware, we expand the focus beyond processors to the systems engineering required to develop the supply chain, engage more innovators, and accelerate development. We know autonomous calibration tasks like those developed by Q-CTRL are a key part to enabling that system-level approach, allowing more users to access quantum computing resources.”
Boulder Opal Scale Up also complements Q-CTRL’s error-suppressing performance management software, Fire Opal, and in combination allows end users to go from a bare metal processor to a useful computer without any overhead or expert knowledge required.
“It’s our mission to make quantum technology useful for as many teams as possible,” said Michael J. Biercuk, CEO and Founder of Q-CTRL. “We’re excited to bring our expertise in physics-informed AI and performance management to the products of QuantWare and TreQ, and to all of their customers, so together we can have the biggest possible impact on delivering quantum advantage to the community.”
