Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
Information Disclosure Statement
The information disclosure statement (IDS) submitted on 12/13/2023 and 12/18/2024 are in compliance with the provisions of 37 CFR 1.97. Accordingly, the information disclosure statement is being considered by the examiner.
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 4, 5, 7, 9-11, 14, 15, 18, and 19 objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable over the prior art if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
(a)(2) the claimed invention was described in a patent issued under section 151, or in an application for patent published or deemed published under section 122(b), in which the patent or application, as the case may be, names another inventor and was effectively filed before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claim(s) 1-3, 6, 8, 16, and 20 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) and 102(a)(2) as being anticipated by Arute et al (Arute, Frank & Arya, Kunal & Atalaya, Juan & Babbush, Ryan & Bardin, Joseph & Barends, Rami & Bengtsson, Andreas & Boixo, Sergio & Bourassa, Alexandre & Broughton, Michael & Buckley, Bob & Buell, David & Burkett, Brian & Bushnell, Nicholas & Chen, Yu & Chen, Zijun & Chiaro, Benjamin & Collins, Roberto & Zalcman, Adam. (2020). Accurately computing electronic properties of materials using eigenenergies. 10.48550/arXiv.2012.00921., hereinafter Arute) .
Regarding Claim 1:
Arute teaches
A method for characterizing a quantum circuit of a quantum computing system having a plurality of qubits, the quantum circuit comprising a tunable quantum gate and a composite quantum gate characterized by a set of gate parameters, the method comprising: (Arute [Fig. S1 caption: "General representation of a photon-conserving two-qubit gate, truncated to the single-particle subspace. This model has four parameters. The parameter θ describes how much the particle hops between qubits. The parameter ζ is the phase the particle accumulates when it stays on the same site (corresponding to a local field). The parameter χ is the phase the particle accumulates when it hops (corresponding to a complex hopping). The parameter γ is a global phase.")
for each modulation angle of a set of modulation angles and for a plurality of cycles, operating the quantum circuit on a qubit pair of the plurality of qubits, wherein for each of the plurality of gate cycles, the tunable quantum gate is tuned based on the modulation angle (Arute Page S1, Appendix A, par. 4]: " In both cases, we repeat the two-qubit gate periodically in time. Between each gate we apply a variable z-rotation by the angle α which we will use as a probe of the gate parameters (α is the same at each depth)."; (EN): the angle α is analogous to the modulation angle of the instant application);
generating gate characterization data for the composite gate based on obtaining, by one or more measurement devices, a measurement of a state of the qubit pair after implementing the quantum circuit for the plurality of gate cycles (Arute [Fig. S1 caption]: "Two methods for extracting parameters in the Fourier domain by repeated application of the two-qubit gate separated by single-qubit z-rotations. The z-rotation provides a probe which can be varied to determine parameters.");
determining, by one or more computing devices, a first representation of a state-transition probability vector for the qubit pair based on the gate characterization data, wherein the first representation is associated with a first vector space corresponding to the set of modulation angles (Arute [Page S20, section 1, par. 3]: "we analyze the sensitivity of the transition and decay rates to the vector x= Γ1 Γ2φ via the least-squares problem {Eqn. F7} where the coefficient tensors Akij and Ckij come from looking at structure of equations F3 and F4.);
generating, by the one or more computing devices, a set of coefficients associated with a second representation of the state-transition probability vector, wherein the second representation is associated with a second vector space corresponding to a vector transformation (Arute [Page S14, section 1, par. 4]: "The coefficients wijkl and therefore the density matrix ℘fνq(t) depend on the shape of the control pulses and not only on the parameters of the logical gate unitary. This is a difference from the closed quantum system evolution where final state depends only on the logical circuit. This happens because the processes of decoherence and decay are continuous in time. The coefficients cijkl are not all independent from each other due to the unitary constraints.");
determining, by the one or more computing devices, at least one gate parameter of the set of gate parameters based on the set of coefficients and one or more statistical estimators (Arute [Fig. S2 caption]: Fig. S2 goes into detail about how gate parameters are determined using frequency estimation).
Regarding Claim 2:
Arute teaches
The method of claim 1, further comprising: calibrating, by the one or more computing devices, the composite quantum gate based at least in part on the set of gate parameters (Arute Page S1, Appendix A, par. 4]: "In both cases, we repeat the two-qubit gate periodically in time. Between each gate we apply a variable z-rotation by the angle α which we will use as a probe of the gate parameters (α is the same at each depth).").
Regarding Claim 2:
Arute teaches
The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining, by the one or more computing devices, a measurement of the state of the qubit pair comprises: obtaining a measurement of the state of the qubit pair for each of a plurality of measurement instances, wherein each measurement instance of the plurality of measurement instances is associated with a common number of gate cycles (Arute [Fig. 2 caption]: "Example of typical raw-data from an 18-qubit experiment. One qubit is initialized into the state |+x, a variable number of cycles in applied, and the same qubit is measured in the x and y basis.").
Regarding Claim 6:
Arute teaches
The method of claim 1, wherein the set of gate parameters includes a swap angle and a controlled phase angle for an ordered basis employable to represent states of the coupled-qubit pair (Arute [Page S4, Appendix B, par. 4]: "Formally, each two-qubit gate Uj is defined by 5 parameters: 3 single qubit phases χj, ζj, γj, swap angle θj and CZ phase ϕj. The cycle unitary Ucycle contains N gates and the total number of the parameters is 5N.").
Regarding Claim 8:
Arute teaches
The method of claim 1, wherein the set of modulation angles represents a uniform discretization of Z-phase rotations of a first qubit of the qubit pair (Arute [Page S1, Appendix A, par. 4]: "In both cases, we repeat the two-qubit gate periodically in time. Between each gate we apply a variable z-rotation by the angle α which we will use as a probe of the gate parameters (α is the same at each depth).").
Regarding Claim 16:
Due to claim language similar to that of Claim 1, Claim 16 is rejected for the same reasons as presented above in the rejection of Claim 1, with the exception of the claim limitation(s) covered below.
Arute teaches
generating, by a computing system, a set of z-phase modulation angles based on a depth parameter (Arute Page S1, Appendix A, par. 4]: "In both cases, we repeat the two-qubit gate periodically in time. Between each gate we apply a variable z-rotation by the angle α which we will use as a probe of the gate parameters (α is the same at each depth).");
Regarding Claim 20:
Due to claim language similar to that of Claim 6, Claim 20 is rejected for the same reasons as presented above in the rejection of Claim 6.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim(s) 12, 13, and 17 is/are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Arute et al (Arute, Frank & Arya, Kunal & Atalaya, Juan & Babbush, Ryan & Bardin, Joseph & Barends, Rami & Bengtsson, Andreas & Boixo, Sergio & Bourassa, Alexandre & Broughton, Michael & Buckley, Bob & Buell, David & Burkett, Brian & Bushnell, Nicholas & Chen, Yu & Chen, Zijun & Chiaro, Benjamin & Collins, Roberto & Zalcman, Adam. (2020). Accurately computing electronic properties of materials using eigenenergies. 10.48550/arXiv.2012.00921., hereinafter Arute) in view of Sete et al (US 20190007051 A1, hereinafter Sete).
Regarding Claim 12:
Arute teaches
A quantum computing system, comprising: (Arute [Fig. S1 caption: "General representation of a photon-conserving two-qubit gate, truncated to the single-particle subspace. This model has four parameters. The parameter θ describes how much the particle hops between qubits. The parameter ζ is the phase the particle accumulates when it stays on the same site (corresponding to a local field). The parameter χ is the phase the particle accumulates when it hops (corresponding to a complex hopping). The parameter γ is a global phase.")
a qubit pair that includes a first qubit and a second qubit that is entangled with the first qubit (Arute [Page 1, par. 3]: "We apply this insight at both the level of individual pairs for calibration and at the system level for mitigating decoherence in algorithms. At the level of two qubits, gates can be applied periodically and local observables can be measured as a function of circuit depth. Small errors in the control parameters are inferred from shifts in the Fourier peaks");
a quantum circuit that includes a tunable quantum gate and a composite gate that is characterized by a set of gate parameters (Arute [Page S4, Appendix B, par. 4]: "Formally, each two-qubit gate Uj is defined by 5 parameters: 3 single qubit phases χj, ζj, γj, swap angle θj and CZ phase ϕj. The cycle unitary Ucycle contains N gates and the total number of the parameters is 5N.");
generating a set of modulation angles based on a depth of characterization of the composite gate (Arute [Page S1, Appendix A, par. 4]: "In both cases, we repeat the two-qubit gate periodically in time. Between each gate we apply a variable z-rotation by the angle α which we will use as a probe of the gate parameters (α is the same at each depth).");
acquiring characterization data by employing the quantum circuit to iteratively operate on the qubit pair, wherein the characterization data is a function of the modulation angles of the set of modulation angles (Arute [Fig. S1 caption]: "Two methods for extracting parameters in the Fourier domain by repeated application of the two-qubit gate separated by single-qubit z-rotations. The z-rotation provides a probe which can be varied to determine parameters.");
generating a probability vector based on the gate characterization data, wherein the components of the probability vector have complex values and correspond to the set of modulation angles (Arute [Gig. S1 caption]: “General representation of a photon-conserving two-qubit gate, truncated to the single-particle subspace. This model has four parameters. The parameter θ describes how much the particle hops between qubits. The parameter ζ is the phase the particle accumulates when it stays on the same site (corresponding to a local field). The parameter χ is the phase the particle accumulates when it hops (corresponding to a complex hopping). The parameter γ is a global phase.”; [Fig. 3 caption]: “Gate decomposition for producing local fields and complex hoppings. The sum of the hopping phases overall pairs realizes a synthetic flux.”; (EN): it can be seen in Fig. 3 that the complex hopping equation relies on the complex value i);
estimating one or more values for gate parameters of the set of gate parameters based on the set of Fourier coefficients (Arute [Fig. S1 caption]: "The parameter θ describes how much the particle hops between qubits. The parameter ζ is the phase the particle accumulates when it stays on the same site (corresponding to a local field). The parameter χ is the phase the particle accumulates when it hops (corresponding to a complex hopping). The parameter γ is a global phase… Calibration procedure for determining θ, ζ and γ from the measured Fourier frequencies.").
Arute does not distinctly disclose
one or more processors;
one or more memory devices, the one or more memory devices storing computer-readable instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform operations for characterizing the composite gate,
generating a set of Fourier coefficient based on the components of the probability vector;
However, Sete teaches
one or more processors (Sete [0240]: "one or more operations in the example process 2200 can be performed by a computer system, for instance, by a digital computer system having one or more digital processors (e.g., a microprocessor or other data processing apparatus) that execute instructions (e.g., instructions stored in a digital memory or other computer-readable medium) to perform the process 2200, or by another type of digital, quantum or hybrid computer system");
one or more memory devices, the one or more memory devices storing computer-readable instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform operations for characterizing the composite gate (Sete [0240]: "one or more operations in the example process 2200 can be performed by a computer system, for instance, by a digital computer system having one or more digital processors (e.g., a microprocessor or other data processing apparatus) that execute instructions (e.g., instructions stored in a digital memory or other computer-readable medium) to perform the process 2200, or by another type of digital, quantum or hybrid computer system"),
generating a set of Fourier coefficient based on the components of the probability vector (Sete [0120]: "equations for the effective couplings and gate times that are more broadly or generally valid (e.g., equations that are valid for all values of magnetic flux modulation amplitude), and in some cases, values for the effective couplings and gate times that are more accurate, can be obtained by expanding qubit frequency and effective couplings in Fourier series. The tunable qubit transition frequency can be expressed in Fourier series as {Eqn. 00027}"; (EN) the generation of the probability vector as seen in Arute can utilize the Fourier coefficients/series as presented in Sete);
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the experimental blueprint for a programmable and accurate quantum matter simulator of Arute with the system for quantum logic gates of Sete in order to provide a method for quantum gate calibration that utilizes a controllable, tunable qubit device. The method presented in Sete is beneficial for Arute in that it allows for the use of Fourier coefficients to tune the quantum gate(s) (Sete [0120]: “For some systems, equations for the effective couplings and gate times that are more broadly or generally valid (e.g., equations that are valid for all values of magnetic flux modulation amplitude), and in some cases, values for the effective couplings and gate times that are more accurate, can be obtained by expanding qubit frequency and effective couplings in Fourier series.”)
Regarding Claim 13:
Arute teaches
The system of claim 12, wherein the operations further comprise: calibrating the composite quantum gate for the quantum computing system based at least in part on the set of gate parameters (Arute Page S1, Appendix A, par. 4]: "In both cases, we repeat the two-qubit gate periodically in time. Between each gate we apply a variable z-rotation by the angle α which we will use as a probe of the gate parameters (α is the same at each depth).").
Regarding Claim 17:
Arute teaches
calculating, by the computing system, the estimates for the set of quantum gate parameters for the composite quantum gate based on the set of Fourier coefficients (Arute [Fig. S1 caption]: "The parameter θ describes how much the particle hops between qubits. The parameter ζ is the phase the particle accumulates when it stays on the same site (corresponding to a local field). The parameter χ is the phase the particle accumulates when it hops (corresponding to a complex hopping). The parameter γ is a global phase… Calibration procedure for determining θ, ζ and γ from the measured Fourier frequencies.").
Arute does not distinctly disclose
The method of claim 16, further comprising: generating, by the computing system, a set of Fourier coefficients based on components of the probability vector;
However, Sete teaches
The method of claim 16, further comprising: generating, by the computing system, a set of Fourier coefficients based on components of the probability vector (Sete [0120]: "equations for the effective couplings and gate times that are more broadly or generally valid (e.g., equations that are valid for all values of magnetic flux modulation amplitude), and in some cases, values for the effective couplings and gate times that are more accurate, can be obtained by expanding qubit frequency and effective couplings in Fourier series. The tunable qubit transition frequency can be expressed in Fourier series as {Eqn. 00027}"; (EN) the generation of the probability vector as seen in Arute can utilize the Fourier coefficients/series as presented in Sete);
Before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, it would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art to combine the experimental blueprint for a programmable and accurate quantum matter simulator of Arute with the system for quantum logic gates of Sete in order to provide a method for quantum gate calibration that utilizes a controllable, tunable qubit device. The method presented in Sete is beneficial for Arute in that it allows for the use of Fourier coefficients to tune the quantum gate(s) (Sete [0120]: “For some systems, equations for the effective couplings and gate times that are more broadly or generally valid (e.g., equations that are valid for all values of magnetic flux modulation amplitude), and in some cases, values for the effective couplings and gate times that are more accurate, can be obtained by expanding qubit frequency and effective couplings in Fourier series.”)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant's disclosure.
US 11170318 B2 – quantum computing systems using multiple photons each having greater than two states associated with the photons
US 20210304054 A1 – Systems and methods for composite quantum gate calibration for a quantum computing system
US 20200372334 A1 – the quantum optical neural network (QONN)
US 10643143 B2 – a calibration process provides more efficient and accurate initialization of devices and operations in a quantum computing system
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to COREY M SACKALOSKY whose telephone number is (703)756-1590. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 7:30am-3:30pm EST.
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) at http://www.uspto.gov/interviewpractice.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Omar Fernandez Rivas can be reached at (571) 272-2589. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of published or unpublished applications may be obtained from Patent Center. Unpublished application information in Patent Center is available to registered users. To file and manage patent submissions in Patent Center, visit: https://patentcenter.uspto.gov. Visit https://www.uspto.gov/patents/apply/patent-center for more information about Patent Center and https://www.uspto.gov/patents/docx for information about filing in DOCX format. For additional questions, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free). If you would like assistance from a USPTO Customer Service Representative, call 800-786-9199 (IN USA OR CANADA) or 571-272-1000.
/COREY M SACKALOSKY/Examiner, Art Unit 2128
/OMAR F FERNANDEZ RIVAS/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2128