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 .
DETAILED ACTION
Response to Arguments
Argument 1, regarding the prior art rejections, applicant argues that Hercock does not teach quantum repeaters storing quantum memories. Examiner respectfully disagrees because Hercock recites “the quantum information may be read out from the static resonators, which act as memories, into a moving quantum information stream. This may have applications in quantum repeaters for QKD (quantum key distribution)” (Hercock, P0089).
Applicant also argues that Hercock does not teach storing quantum memories but only recite “multiple resonant structures within the waveguide that act as stores of quantum information (e.g. quantum memories)” (Hercock, P0044). Examiner notes that resonant structures storing quantum memories may be interpreted as storing quantum memories under the broadest reasonable interpretation of the claim language.
Applicant also argues that microwave photons recited by Hercock are not of a proper wavelength to propagate through the “optical communications link” or teach “first quantum repeater is configured to maintain a buffer of established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances” with quantum memories of a second quantum repeater as described in the claims. Examiner notes that Hercock recites “a micro-structured surface may be a programmable meta-surface with features small enough to give a strong mechanical (acousto-optic) interaction with the photons. These may be nanoscale cavities in the wall of the waveguide (e.g. hollow core fibre) which are excited into phononic states by the exchange of both energy and quantum information from the photons, which technically speaking may be optical” and “The above examples utilise the phenomena of quantum mechanical resonators to store, and exchange to quantum information with optical signals. By utilising a micro-scale quantum entanglement effect, where a classical-scale pair of objects become entangled, the dimensions of the objects make it possible for them to interact with an optical signal within standard fibre optic systems.” (see Hercock P0089-P0090). Thus, Hercock teaches fibre optic systems being used to communicate optic signals and exchange quantum information.
Applicant also argues that Soeken does not teach “an optical switchboard configured to perform a Bell state measurement between any of the quantum memories of the first set and any of the quantum memories of the second set; and an interface configured to indicate a result of the Bell state measurement” because there is no motivation to combine the teachings of Hercock and Soeken. Examiner respectfully disagrees because one would have been motivated to make such a combination of optical switchboards being used to aid quantum repeaters (see Cable P0158, P0160) and enabling a resonant structure to function as a quantum memory (see Hercock P0041) for improved synchronization of circuits (see Cable P0002).
Applicant also argues that the bell state preparation switchboard circuit 440 and teleportation switchboard circuit of Soeken are high level, logical circuits and distinct from the “optical switchboard configured to perform a Bell state measurement between any of the quantum memories of the first set and any of the quantum memories of the second set”. In response to applicant's arguments against the references individually, one cannot show nonobviousness by attacking references individually where the rejections are based on combinations of references. See In re Keller, 642 F.2d 413, 208 USPQ 871 (CCPA 1981); In re Merck & Co., 800 F.2d 1091, 231 USPQ 375 (Fed. Cir. 1986). Examiner notes that a more specific optical switchboard is taught by Cable as cited below.
The full prior art rejections are outlined below.
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.
Claims 1, 4-5, and 8-10 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hercock et al (Pub. No.: US 20250172850 A1), hereafter Hercock in view of Soeken et al (Pub. No.: US 20230401470 A1), hereafter Soeken and Cable (Pub. No.: US 20240393659 A1), hereafter Cable.
Regarding claim 1, Hercock teaches a first quantum repeater of a service provider network comprising: a first set of quantum memories (Quantum repeaters may store quantum memories, P0041, P0089); a second set of quantum memories, wherein the first quantum repeater is configured to maintain a buffer of established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances between the second set of quantum memories and a third set of quantum memories of a second quantum repeater (Quantum repeaters may be used to divide entanglement and quantum memories between multiple streams and wavelength for distribution to different resonators, P0089);… and the second quantum repeater of the service provider network, connected to the first quantum repeater by an optical communications link (Quantum repeaters may communicate using fiber optic signals, P0089-P0090), wherein the second quantum repeater comprises: the third set of quantum memories, wherein the second quantum repeater is configured to maintain the buffer of established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances using the third set of quantum memories (Each quantum repeater maintains its own set of quantum memories and buffer in order to perform quantum entanglement, P0041, P0044, P0089).
Hercock does not appear to explicitly teach “an optical switchboard configured to perform a Bell state measurement between any of the quantum memories of the first set and any of the quantum memories of the second set; and an interface configured to indicate a result of the Bell state measurement.”.
Soeken teaches perform a Bell state measurement between any of the quantum memories of the first set and any of the quantum memories of the second set (“The teleportation switchboard circuit 442 may be constructed from a plurality of horizontal Bell state preparation operations and a plurality of vertical Bell state measurement operations”, P0145); and an interface configured to indicate a result of the Bell state measurement (The results of the horizontal and vertical bell state preparation operations may be indicated by the teleportation circuit 442 which reroutes connections between source and destination qubits, P0145).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the
art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Hercock and Soeken before them, to include Soeken’s specific teaching of performing bell state operations using a switchboard in Hercock’s system of Using Micro Resonators with Photons. One would have been motivated to make such a combination of performing bell state operations using a switchboard (see Soeken P0145) and enabling a resonant structure to function as a quantum memory (see Hercock P0041) for improved optimization of quantum algorithms by reducing resource requirements (see Soeken P0001).
Hercock in view of Soeken does not appear to explicitly teach “an optical switchboard”.
Cable teaches an optical switchboard (Optical switchboards may be implemented for the purpose of aiding quantum repeaters, P0158, P0160).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the
art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Hercock, Soeken, and Cable before them, to include Cable’s specific teaching of optical switchboards being used to aid quantum repeaters in Hercock’s system of Using Micro Resonators with Photons. One would have been motivated to make such a combination of optical switchboards being used to aid quantum repeaters (see Cable P0158, P0160) and enabling a resonant structure to function as a quantum memory (see Hercock P0041) for improved synchronization of circuits (see Cable P0002).
Regarding claim 4, Hercock in view of Soeken and Cable teaches the limitations of claim 1 as outlined above. Soeken further teaches wherein the optical switchboard is further configured to select a given quantum memory of the second set to be used in a given Bell state measurement based, at least in part, on a determination that a given established, pairwise quantum entanglement instance, corresponding to the given quantum memory of the second set, has been established more recently than another one of the established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances (Bell state measurements may depend on temporal layers indicating bell state preparations, including identifying which qubits were used at earlier times, P0103, P0163).
Regarding claim 5, Hercock in view of Soeken and Cable teaches the limitations of claim 1 as outlined above. Soeken further teaches wherein the optical switchboard is further configured to select a given quantum memory of the second set to be used in a given Bell state measurement based, at least in part, on a determination that a given established, pairwise quantum entanglement instance, corresponding to the given quantum memory of the second set, has been established less recently than another one of the established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances (Bell state measurement may depend on temporal layers indicating bell state preparations, including identifying which qubits were used at later times, P0103, P0163, P0169-P0170).
Regarding claim 8, Hercock in view of Soeken and Cable teaches the limitations of claim 1 as outlined above. Soeken further teaches the first quantum repeater further comprises one or more classical computing devices configured to: receive a heralding signal, indicating that quantum information has been stored in a given quantum memory of the first set (Classical computing device 20 may be connected to quantum computing device 10 and receive quantum information, P0067-P0071); and provide quantum memory storage information, indicating a particular quantum memory location of the given quantum memory of the first set, to the optical switchboard for performance of the Bell state measurement (Quantum computing device 10 may include both classical computing device 20 and measurement device 16 to perform measurements, P0067-P0068. Measurements may include bell state measurements performed using switchboard circuits, P0144-P0145).
Regarding claim 9, Hercock in view of Soeken and Cable teaches the limitations of claim 8 as outlined above. Soeken further teaches the one or more classical computing devices are further configured to receive, via the interface, the result of the Bell state measurement (“The processor 22 of the classical computing device 20 may be configured to implement a decoder 26 that is configured to receive the measurements of the plurality of output measurement results 18 from the quantum computing device 10”, P0071); and provide the result of the Bell state measurement to one or more additional classical computing devices of the service provider network for use in providing distributed quantum entanglement (“At the decoder 26, the processor 22 may be configured to preprocess the output measurement results 18 into forms in which further classical computations may be performed on the output measurement results 18. The preprocessed measurements may subsequently be transmitted to one or more additional computing processes 30”, P0071).
Regarding claim 10, Hercock in view of Soeken and Cable teaches the limitations of claim 1 as outlined above. Soeken further teaches wherein, responsive to said performance of the Bell state measurement, the first and the second quantum repeaters are further configured to: reattempt establishing another pairwise quantum entanglement instance, using a respective available quantum memory of the second set and a respective available quantum memory of the third set, such that the buffer of established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances is maintained (Resonator structures may be used as a buffer for photons, with entanglement between the different resonator structures being established in order for entanglement to be passed to the photons of each resonator structure, P0044).
Claim 2 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hercock in view of Soeken and Cable and further in view of Wang et al (Pub. No.: US 20250284994 A1), hereafter Wang.
Regarding claim 2, Hercock in view of Soeken and Cable teaches the limitations of claim 1 as outlined above. Hercock does not appear to explicitly teach “the first and the second quantum repeaters are configured to maintain the buffer of established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances such that a rate of establishing the pairwise quantum entanglement instances is higher than a rate of decay of the pairwise quantum entanglement instances; and the rate of decay of the pairwise quantum entanglement instances is based, at least in part, on coherence times of qubits within the respective quantum memories of the second set of quantum memories and the third set of quantum memories”.
Wang teaches the first and the second quantum repeaters are configured to maintain the buffer of established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances such that a rate of establishing the pairwise quantum entanglement instances is higher than a rate of decay of the pairwise quantum entanglement instances (quantum repeaters may have a high quantum performance by implementing a warm atomic vapor cell designed to have an entanglement distribution rate higher than the time it takes for storage efficiency to decay, P0088-P0090, P0092-P0093); and the rate of decay of the pairwise quantum entanglement instances is based, at least in part, on coherence times of qubits within the respective quantum memories of the second set of quantum memories and the third set of quantum memories (Quantum repeaters may maintain entanglement instances based partially on storage time, T, which assesses the time it takes for the storage efficiency to decay significantly, P0088-P0089).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the
art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Hercock, Soeken, Cable and Wang before them, to include Wang’s specific teaching of quantum repeaters distributing entanglement instances at a faster rate than the rate of decay in Hercock’s system of Using Micro Resonators with Photons. One would have been motivated to make such a combination of quantum repeaters distributing entanglement instances at a faster rate than the rate of decay (see Wang P0088-P0090, P0092-P0093) and using quantum repeaters to generate entanglements between different parties (see Hercock P0089) for improved optical quantum communication over distances (see Wang P0003).
Claim 3 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hercock in view of Soeken and Cable and further in view of Covey et al (Pub. No.: US 20240056711 A1), hereafter Covey.
Regarding claim 3, Hercock in view of Soeken and Cable teaches the limitations of claim 1 as outlined above. Hercock does not appear to explicitly teach “wherein the first and the second quantum repeaters are configured to apply wavelength divisional multiplexing to enable multiple, co-existing pairwise quantum entanglement instances across the optical communications link”.
Covey teaches wherein the first and the second quantum repeaters are configured to apply wavelength divisional multiplexing to enable multiple, co-existing pairwise quantum entanglement instances across the optical communications link (Quantum repeaters are capable of temporal wavelength multiplexing of quantum entanglement instances along optical fibers, P0040).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the
art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Hercock, Soeken, and Covey before them, to include Covey’s specific teaching of quantum repeaters being capable of temporal wavelength multiplexing in Hercock’s system of Using Micro Resonators with Photons. One would have been motivated to make such a combination of quantum repeaters being capable of temporal wavelength multiplexing (see Covey P0040) and using quantum repeaters to generate entanglements between different parties (see Hercock P0089) for improved longer-distance quantum communications and networking (see Covey P0003-P0004).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hercock in view of Soeken and Cable and further in view of Chen et al (Pub. No.: CN 115549806 A), hereafter Chen.
Regarding claim 6, Hercock in view of Soeken and Cable teaches the limitations of claim 1 as outlined above. Soeken further teaches the optical switchboard is further configured to perform a Bell state measurement between any of the quantum memories of the first set and any of the quantum memories of the fourth set (Bell state measurement may be performed by a switchboard circuit between qubits in accordance to figure 1, P0144-P0145. Within figure 1, there are multiple quantum memories stored in logical qubit encoding surfaces 12 connected to quantum computing device 10, P0065-P0068. Quantum computing device 10 is also connected to classical computing device 20 which is configured to receive the measurements of the plurality of output measurement results 18 from the quantum computing device 10, P0069-P0071).
Hercock does not appear to explicitly teach the first quantum repeater further comprises a fourth set of quantum memories, wherein the first quantum repeater is further configured to maintain an additional buffer of established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances between the fourth set of quantum memories and a fifth set of quantum memories of a third quantum repeater of the service provider network”.
Chen teaches the first quantum repeater further comprises a fourth set of quantum memories, wherein the first quantum repeater is further configured to maintain an additional buffer of established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances between the fourth set of quantum memories and a fifth set of quantum memories of a third quantum repeater of the service provider network (A third quantum repeater may be included to maintain quantum entanglement instances between a fourth and fifth set of quantum memories (information), page 3, paragraph 1).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the
art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Hercock, Soeken, Cable, and Chen before them, to include Chen’s specific teaching of a third quantum repeater included to maintain quantum entanglement instances between a fourth and fifth set of quantum information in Hercock’s system of Using Micro Resonators with Photons. One would have been motivated to make such a combination of a third quantum repeater included to maintain quantum entanglement instances between a fourth and fifth set of quantum information (see Chen Page 3, paragraph 1) and using quantum repeaters to generate entanglements between different parties (see Hercock P0089) for improved quantum channel capacity and carried information quantity (see Chen Page 2, paragraph 1).
Claim 6 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hercock in view of Soeken, Cable, Chen, and further in view of Wang.
Regarding claim 7, Hercock in view of Soeken and Cable and further in view of Chen teaches the limitations of claim 6 as outlined above. Hercock does not appear to explicitly teach “the first quantum repeater is further configured to logically redesignate one or more of the quantum memories of the second set to the fourth set of quantum memories such that the additional buffer of established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances between the first and the third quantum repeaters increases; and the redesignation is based, at least in part, on: a rate of usage of the buffer of established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances between the first and second quantum repeaters; and another rate of usage of the additional buffer of established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances between the first and third quantum repeaters”.
Wang teaches the first quantum repeater is further configured to logically redesignate one or more of the quantum memories of the second set to the fourth set of quantum memories such that the additional buffer of established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances between the first and the third quantum repeaters increases; and the redesignation is based, at least in part, on: a rate of usage of the buffer of established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances between the first and second quantum repeaters; and another rate of usage of the additional buffer of established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances between the first and third quantum repeaters (Quantum memories may be used to increase the entanglement distribution rate which is dependent upon fidelity, storage efficiency, and storage time. These parameters indicate usage of quantum entanglement instances distributed by the quantum repeaters, P0088-P0089).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the
art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Hercock, Soeken, Cable, Chen, and Wang before them, to include Wang’s specific teaching of quantum repeaters distributing entanglement instances to optimize fidelity, storage efficiency, and storage time in Hercock’s system of Using Micro Resonators with Photons. One would have been motivated to make such a combination of quantum repeaters distributing entanglement instances to optimize fidelity, storage efficiency, and storage time (see Wang P0088-P0089) and using quantum repeaters to generate entanglements between different parties (see Hercock P0089) for improved optical quantum communication over distances (see Wang P0003).
Claims 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hercock in view of Soeken, and Wang.
Regarding claim 11, Hercock teaches a quantum entanglement network of a service provider network comprising a plurality of quantum repeaters, wherein: the quantum entanglement network is configured to maintain a buffer of established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances between quantum memory locations of respective ones of the quantum repeaters (Quantum repeaters may be used to divide entanglement and quantum memories between multiple streams and wavelength for distribution to different resonators, P0089); …and cause the distributed quantum entanglement to be provided using respective ones of the already established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances, maintained in the buffer, between quantum memory locations of the one or more quantum repeaters (Each quantum repeater maintains its own set of quantum memories and buffer in order to perform quantum entanglement, P0041, P0044, P0089).
Hercock does not appear to explicitly teach “one or more classical computing devices of the service provider network configured to implement a distributed quantum entanglement service configured to orchestrate distributed quantum entanglement across endpoints of the service provider network, using respective ones of the plurality of quantum repeaters, wherein, to implement the distributed quantum entanglement service”.
Soeken teaches one or more classical computing devices of the service provider network configured to implement a distributed quantum entanglement service configured to orchestrate distributed quantum entanglement across endpoints of the service provider network, using respective ones of the plurality of quantum repeaters, wherein, to implement the distributed quantum entanglement service (“ The quantum computing device 10 may further include a measurement device 16 at which measurements may be performed on qubits included in the one or more logical qubit encoding surfaces 12… The measurement device 16 may be further configured to transmit the plurality of output measurement results 18 to the classical computing device 20…At the decoder 26, the processor 22 may be configured to preprocess the output measurement results 18 into forms in which further classical computations may be performed on the output measurement results 18. The preprocessed measurements may subsequently be transmitted to one or more additional computing processes 30”, P0067, P0071).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the
art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Hercock and Soeken before them, to include Soeken’s specific teaching of a quantum computing device implementing a classical computing device for distributing bell state measurements in Hercock’s system of Using Micro Resonators with Photons. One would have been motivated to make such a combination of a quantum computing device implementing a classical computing device for distributing bell state measurements (see Soeken P0067, P0071, P0145) and enabling a resonant structure to function as a quantum memory (see Hercock P0041) for improved optimization of quantum algorithms by reducing resource requirements (see Soeken P0001).
Hercock in view of Soeken does not appear to explicitly teach “the plurality of quantum repeaters are quantum repeaters of a service provider network;… receive a request from a customer of the distributed quantum entanglement service to provide distributed quantum entanglement between an endpoint of the customer and another endpoint of the service provider network;… determine an optical communications pathway between the endpoint of the customer and the other endpoint of the service provider network, wherein the optical communications pathway comprises intersection points at one or more of the plurality of quantum repeaters”.
Wang teaches the plurality of quantum repeaters are quantum repeaters of a service provider network (Quantum repeaters may belong to a quantum network implemented with a fiber optic network, P0087-P0088);… receive a request from a customer of the distributed quantum entanglement service to provide distributed quantum entanglement between an endpoint of the customer and another endpoint of the service provider network (“In a quantum repeater, one divides a long communications channel into many elementary links and uses pair-wise entanglement swapping to distribute entanglement between the two remote parties”, P0088);… determine an optical communications pathway between the endpoint of the customer and the other endpoint of the service provider network, wherein the optical communications pathway comprises intersection points at one or more of the plurality of quantum repeaters (Quantum repeaters may belong to a quantum network implemented with a fiber optic network, P0087-P0088).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the
art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Hercock, Soeken, and Wang before them, to include Wang’s specific teaching of quantum repeaters distributing entanglement instances at a faster rate than the rate of decay in Hercock’s system of Using Micro Resonators with Photons. One would have been motivated to make such a combination of quantum repeaters distributing entanglement instances at a faster rate than the rate of decay (see Wang P0088-P0090, P0092-P0093) and using quantum repeaters to generate entanglements between different parties (see Hercock P0089) for improved optical quantum communication over distances (see Wang P0003).
Regarding claim 12, Hercock in view of Soeken and Wang teaches the limitations of claim 11 as outlined above. Soeken further teaches a given one of the plurality of quantum repeaters comprises an optical switchboard configured to perform Bell state measurements between any two quantum memory locations within the given one of the plurality of quantum repeaters (“The teleportation switchboard circuit 442 may be constructed from a plurality of horizontal Bell state preparation operations and a plurality of vertical Bell state measurement operations”, P0145); and to cause the distributed quantum entanglement to be provided using the respective ones of the already established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances, maintained in the buffer, between quantum memory locations of the one or more quantum repeaters, the given one of the plurality of quantum repeaters is configured to provide a result of a Bell state measurement corresponding to one of the already established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances in the buffer (The results of the horizontal and vertical bell state preparation operations may be indicated by the teleportation circuit 442 which reroutes connections between source and destination qubits, P0145).
Regarding claim 13, Hercock in view of Soeken and Wang teaches the limitations of claim 11 as outlined above. Wang further teaches the first and the second quantum repeaters are configured to maintain the buffer of established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances such that a rate of establishing the pairwise quantum entanglement instances is higher than a rate of decay of the pairwise quantum entanglement instances (quantum repeaters may have a high quantum performance by implementing a warm atomic vapor cell designed to have an entanglement distribution rate higher than the time it takes for storage efficiency to decay, P0088-P0090, P0092-P0093); and the rate of decay of the pairwise quantum entanglement instances is based, at least in part, on coherence times of qubits within the respective quantum memories of the second set of quantum memories and the third set of quantum memories (Quantum repeaters may maintain entanglement instances based partially on storage time, T, which assesses the time it takes for the storage efficiency to decay significantly, P0088-P0089).
Claims 11-13 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hercock in view of Soeken, Cable, and Wang.
Regarding claim 18, Hercock teaches maintaining a buffer of established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances between quantum memory locations of a first quantum repeater and quantum memory locations of a second quantum repeater, wherein the first and second quantum repeaters are quantum repeaters of a service provider network (Quantum repeaters may be used to divide entanglement and quantum memories between multiple streams and wavelength for distribution to different resonators, P0089).
Hercock does not appear to explicitly teach “performing a Bell state measurement, using an optical switchboard within the first quantum repeater, between: one of the quantum memory locations of the first quantum repeater, corresponding to one of the established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances in the buffer; and another quantum memory location of the first quantum repeater, corresponding to a location storing quantum information pertaining to an entangled photon received at the first quantum repeater; performing another Bell state measurement, using an optical switchboard within the second quantum repeater, between: one of the quantum memory locations of the second quantum repeater, corresponding to the one of the established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances in the buffer; and another quantum memory location of the second quantum repeater, corresponding to a location storing quantum information pertaining to another entangled photon received at the second quantum repeater; and providing a result of the Bell state measurement, performed within the first quantum repeater, and a result of the other Bell state measurement, performed within the second quantum repeater.”
Soeken teaches performing a Bell state measurement, …, between: one of the quantum memory locations of the first quantum repeater, corresponding to one of the established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances in the buffer; and another quantum memory location of the first quantum repeater, corresponding to a location storing quantum information pertaining to an entangled photon received at the first quantum repeater (“The teleportation switchboard circuit 442 may be constructed from a plurality of horizontal Bell state preparation operations and a plurality of vertical Bell state measurement operations”, P0145); performing another Bell state measurement, …, between: one of the quantum memory locations of the second quantum repeater, corresponding to the one of the established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances in the buffer; and another quantum memory location of the second quantum repeater, corresponding to a location storing quantum information pertaining to another entangled photon received at the second quantum repeater (Multiple bell state measurements may be performed using the optical switchboard including a plurality of vertical bell state measurements and horizontal bell state measurements, the measurements being performed on quantum states and qubits of quantum computing device 10, P0067, P0145); and providing a result of the Bell state measurement, performed within the first quantum repeater, and a result of the other Bell state measurement, performed within the second quantum repeater (The results of the horizontal and vertical bell state preparation operations may be indicated by the teleportation circuit 442 which reroutes connections between source and destination qubits, P0145).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the
art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Hercock and Soeken before them, to include Soeken’s specific teaching of performing bell state operations using a switchboard in Hercock’s system of Using Micro Resonators with Photons. One would have been motivated to make such a combination of performing bell state operations using a switchboard (see Soeken P0145) and enabling a resonant structure to function as a quantum memory (see Hercock P0041) for improved optimization of quantum algorithms by reducing resource requirements (see Soeken P0001).
Hercock in view of Soeken does not appear to explicitly teach “using an optical switchboard within the first quantum repeater …using an optical switchboard within the second quantum repeater”.
Cable teaches using an optical switchboard within the first quantum repeater …using an optical switchboard within the second quantum repeater (Optical switchboards may be implemented for the purpose of aiding quantum repeaters, P0158, P0160).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the
art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Hercock, Soeken, and Cable before them, to include Cable’s specific teaching of optical switchboards being used to aid quantum repeaters in Hercock’s system of Using Micro Resonators with Photons. One would have been motivated to make such a combination of optical switchboards being used to aid quantum repeaters (see Cable P0158, P0160) and enabling a resonant structure to function as a quantum memory (see Hercock P0041) for improved synchronization of circuits (see Cable P0002).
Hercock in view of Soeken and Cable does not appear to explicitly teach “responsive to receiving a request, from a customer of the service provider network, to provide distributed quantum entanglement between an endpoint of the customer and another endpoint of the service provider network”.
Wang teaches responsive to receiving a request, from a customer of the service provider network, to provide distributed quantum entanglement between an endpoint of the customer and another endpoint of the service provider network (“In a quantum repeater, one divides a long communications channel into many elementary links and uses pair-wise entanglement swapping to distribute entanglement between the two remote parties”, P0088).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the
art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Hercock, Soeken, Cable, and Wang before them, to include Wang’s specific teaching of quantum repeaters distributing entanglement instances at a faster rate than the rate of decay in Hercock’s system of Using Micro Resonators with Photons. One would have been motivated to make such a combination of quantum repeaters distributing entanglement instances at a faster rate than the rate of decay (see Wang P0088-P0090, P0092-P0093) and using quantum repeaters to generate entanglements between different parties (see Hercock P0089) for improved optical quantum communication over distances (see Wang P0003).
Regarding claim 19, Hercock in view of Soeken, Cable, and Wang teaches the limitations of claim 18 as outlined above. Hercock further teaches responsive to said performing the Bell state measurement and said performing the other Bell state measurement, corresponding to the one of the established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances in the buffer, re-establishing another pairwise quantum entanglement instance between the first and second quantum repeaters such that the buffer is maintained (Resonator structures may be used as a buffer for photons, with entanglement between the different resonator structures being established in order for entanglement to be passed to the photons of each resonator structure, P0044).
Claims 14-17 and 20 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Hercock in view of Soeken, Cable, and Wang and further in view of Simmons et al (Pub. No.: US 20260099749 A1), hereafter Simmons.
Regarding claim 14, Hercock in view of Soeken, Cable, and Wang teach the limitations of claim 11 as outlined above. Hercock does not appear to explicitly teach “the quantum entanglement network is configured to maintain the buffer of established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances between quantum memory locations of respective ones of the quantum repeaters such that a rate of establishing the pairwise quantum entanglement instances is higher than a rate of consumption of the pairwise quantum entanglement instances; and the rate of consumption of the pairwise quantum entanglement instances is based, at least in part, on said causation of the distributed quantum entanglement to be provided using respective ones of the already established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances, maintained in the buffer”.
Simmons teaches the quantum entanglement network is configured to maintain the buffer of established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances between quantum memory locations of respective ones of the quantum repeaters such that a rate of establishing the pairwise quantum entanglement instances is higher than a rate of consumption of the pairwise quantum entanglement instances (Entanglement scheduler may maintain entanglement instances between quantum systems of the network at a rate that meets the demand of operations requiring consumption of an entanglement, P0282); and the rate of consumption of the pairwise quantum entanglement instances is based, at least in part, on said causation of the distributed quantum entanglement to be provided using respective ones of the already established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances, maintained in the buffer (“’Consumption’ when referencing entanglement or an entangled state means that the entanglement or entangled state is used to advance execution of a program in a way that makes the entanglement or entangled state no longer available for other operations. For example, entanglement that is used to implement a remote (teleported) gate is consumed by measurements that are applied to implement the remote gate and is subsequently no longer available”, P0128).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the
art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Hercock, Soeken, Cable, Wang, and Simmons before them, to include Simmons’s specific teaching of establishing quantum entanglement at a faster rate than the rate of entanglement being consumed in Hercock’s system of Using Micro Resonators with Photons. One would have been motivated to make such a combination of establishing quantum entanglement at a faster rate than the rate of entanglement being consumed (see Simmons P0128, P0282) and enabling a resonant structure to function as a quantum memory (see Hercock P0041) for improved interconnectivity between the quantum systems (see Simmons P0006).
Regarding claims 15 and 20, Hercock in view of Soeken, Cable, and Wang teach the limitations of claims 11 and 18 as outlined above. Hercock does not appear to explicitly teach “evaluate elapsed time periods subsequent to establishment of respective ones of the established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances in the buffer; and responsive to a detection that a given one of the evaluated elapsed time periods is greater than coherence times of qubits within respective quantum memory locations corresponding to the given one of the already established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances, cause establishment of another pairwise quantum entanglement instance, corresponding to the respective quantum memory locations, to be reattempted such that the buffer is maintained”.
Simmons teaches evaluate elapsed time periods subsequent to establishment of respective ones of the established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances in the buffer; and responsive to a detection that a given one of the evaluated elapsed time periods is greater than coherence times of qubits within respective quantum memory locations corresponding to the given one of the already established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances, cause establishment of another pairwise quantum entanglement instance, corresponding to the respective quantum memory locations, to be reattempted such that the buffer is maintained (Based on decoherence time, entanglement between quantum systems may reattempted to provide the required entanglement, P0189, P0197).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the
art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Hercock, Soeken, Cable, Wang, and Simmons before them, to include Simmons’s specific teaching of reattempting entanglement based on decoherence time in Hercock’s system of Using Micro Resonators with Photons. One would have been motivated to make such a combination of reattempting entanglement based on decoherence time (see Simmons P0189, P0197) and enabling a resonant structure to function as a quantum memory (see Hercock P0041) for improved interconnectivity between the quantum systems (see Simmons P0006).
Regarding claim 16, Hercock in view of Soeken, Cable, and Wang teach the limitations of claim 11 as outlined above. Hercock does not appear to explicitly teach “responsive to said causation of the distributed quantum entanglement to be provided using respective ones of the already established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances, maintained in the buffer, cause establishment of one or more additional pairwise quantum entanglement instances to be reattempted such that the buffer is maintained”.
Simmons teaches responsive to said causation of the distributed quantum entanglement to be provided using respective ones of the already established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances, maintained in the buffer, cause establishment of one or more additional pairwise quantum entanglement instances to be reattempted such that the buffer is maintained (In the event that entanglement already exists between two quantum systems, a link to one or more links in one or more entanglement chains that may be used to provide the required entanglement by entanglement swapping, P0192).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the
art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Hercock, Soeken, Cable, Wang, and Simmons before them, to include Simmons’s specific teaching of reattempting entanglement when entanglement already exists between two quantum systems in Hercock’s system of Using Micro Resonators with Photons. One would have been motivated to make such a combination of reattempting entanglement when entanglement already exists between two quantum systems (see Simmons P0192) and enabling a resonant structure to function as a quantum memory (see Hercock P0041) for improved interconnectivity between the quantum systems (see Simmons P0006).
Regarding claim 17, Hercock in view of Soeken, Cable, and Wang teach the limitations of claim 11 as outlined above. Hercock does not appear to explicitly teach “wherein to orchestrate distributed quantum entanglement, the one or more classical computing devices implementing the distributed quantum entanglement service are further configured to: monitor rates of consumption of the established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances within the buffer between the respective ones of the quantum repeaters; and cause one or more of the quantum memory locations within a given one of the quantum repeaters of the plurality to be logically redesignated for use in establishing other pairwise quantum entanglement instances with a different quantum repeater of the plurality based, at least in part, in a change in the monitored rates of consumption”.
Simmons teaches wherein to orchestrate distributed quantum entanglement, the one or more classical computing devices implementing the distributed quantum entanglement service are further configured to: monitor rates of consumption of the established, pairwise quantum entanglement instances within the buffer between the respective ones of the quantum repeaters (Entanglement scheduler may automatically attempt to create entangled pairs of quantum systems that are consumable to support the operation, P0266); and cause one or more of the quantum memory locations within a given one of the quantum repeaters of the plurality to be logically redesignated for use in establishing other pairwise quantum entanglement instances with a different quantum repeater of the plurality based, at least in part, in a change in the monitored rates of consumption (Entanglement scheduler may maintain entanglement instances between quantum systems of the network at a rate that meets the demand of operations requiring consumption of an entanglement, P0282).
Accordingly, it would have been obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the
art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention, having the teachings of Hercock, Soeken, Cable, Wang, and Simmons before them, to include Simmons’s specific teaching of automatically attempting to create entanglement pairs as consumption of entanglement is monitored in Hercock’s system of Using Micro Resonators with Photons. One would have been motivated to make such a combination of automatically attempting to create entanglement pairs as consumption of entanglement is monitored (see Simmons P0266, P0282) and enabling a resonant structure to function as a quantum memory (see Hercock P0041) for improved interconnectivity between the quantum systems (see Simmons P0006).
Conclusion
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/I.M./ Examiner, Art Unit 2141
/MATTHEW ELL/Supervisory Patent Examiner, Art Unit 2141
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