Horizon Quantum Integrates OQC’s 32-Qubit Processor with Triple Alpha

Insider Brief

• Horizon Quantum and OQC have integrated OQC’s 32-qubit superconducting quantum processor, Toshiko, with Horizon Quantum’s Triple Alpha development environment to enable pulse-level hardware control.
• The integration allows developers to characterise qubits, measure coherence parameters such as T1 and T2, and perform quantum gate calibration within the same environment used to develop quantum applications.
• The collaboration aims to simplify hardware characterisation and calibration workflows by giving developers access to pulse-level control through Triple Alpha’s programming environment and web-based API.

PRESS RELEASE — Horizon Quantum Computing Pte. Ltd., the wholly-owned subsidiary of Horizon Quantum Holdings Ltd. (Nasdaq: HQ) (“Horizon Quantum”), a pioneer of software infrastructure for quantum applications, and OQC, a global leader in quantum computing, today announced the successful pulse-level integration of OQC’s QPU with Triple Alpha, Horizon Quantum’s integrated development environment, as part of an ongoing collaboration.

This integration provides access to the hardware control layer, enabling Triple Alpha users to perform pulse-level operations on the OQC’s 32-qubit device Toshiko, allowing them to build hardware characterization and gate calibration procedures within the same environment they use to develop and execute quantum applications.

Characterization is a key step in preparing quantum hardware for practical use. By measuring the physical properties of QPUs, characterization helps build an understanding of processor behavior and informs the calibration of quantum gates, ultimately improving computational fidelity. QPUs need a universal gate set to execute quantum programs, and each gate must be calibrated. This process involves sending pulses to the processor, measuring qubit responses, and adjusting the pulses to achieve the desired operations. Because quantum systems are highly sensitive, frequent recalibration is necessary.

The Horizon Quantum team used Triple Alpha’s pulse-level control capabilities to access OQC’s 32-qubit superconducting QPU and characterize parameters such as T1 and T2, which describe qubit relaxation and phase coherence, respectively. The team also used Triple Alpha to execute a high-level quantum program on Toshiko to perform gate calibration.

The results of the collaboration demonstrate how Triple Alpha’s pulse-level control can support hardware characterization and gate calibration directly on a QPU, with the potential to streamline workflows that might otherwise rely on separate tools.

Many quantum computing modalities, including superconducting systems, make use of precise electromagnetic pulses to control the QPU and drive logical operations. Programming at the pulse level requires specifying not only the precise schedule according to which pulses are transmitted to the QPU, but also specifying the physical properties of these pulses. Traditionally, this has required making use of distinct frameworks or programming languages designed specifically for pulse scheduling.

Triple Alpha allows developers to harness pulse-level control within the same programming languages that are used to develop quantum applications. This portable approach lets users write programs once and execute them across different control systems. As a result, pulse-level control enables users to create and deploy characterization and calibration routines and other programs which explore the physics of the QPU itself, and integrate them into their workflow via a simple web-based API.

The ongoing collaboration between Horizon Quantum and OQC reflects both companies’ commitment to unlocking broad quantum advantage and commercial applications for quantum computing.

“Exposing pulse-level control of OQC processors through Triple Alpha will enable users to interact with the physics of the quantum processors, rather than just the data they contain,” said Dr. Joe Fitzsimons, CEO of Horizon Quantum. “We expect this to enable the development and implementation of new techniques for characterization, noise mitigation and improved performance. We are grateful to OQC for working with us to make this integration possible.”

“Making quantum computing useful requires close integration between hardware and software,” said Simon Phillips, OQC’s Chief Product Officer. “By bringing OQC’s device’s pulse-level capabilities into Triple Alpha, we’re giving developers greater control to characterize qubits, calibrate gates, and build quantum programs within a single environment—a practical step towards simplifying quantum application development.”