Quantum Internet in a Decentralized Era: Tackling Trust, Latency, and Interoperability in Quantum Networks
摘要
The advent of the quantum internet holds the potential for ultra-secure communication, but decentralisation brings with it unprecedented challenges related to trust, latency, and interoperability. This paper proposes a new framework for decentralised quantum networks by integrating quantum blockchain, adaptive routing protocols, and cross-platform communication layers. The new architecture facilitates trustless communication via quantum digital signatures (QDS) and quantum-secure smart contracts. For minimising latency, an adaptive quantum routing protocol was utilised, leveraging the application of quantum repeaters with buffer memories to provide maximum entanglement swapping. Interoperability was realised through a common qubit encoding and cross-protocol communication layer, facilitating seamless interoperability across various quantum platforms. The system was tested with SimulaQron and QuNetSim simulations, comparing interoperability success, trust level, latency, and entanglement fidelity parameters. Results revealed a dramatic improvement, as levels of trust improved to 98%, mean latency decreased by 32.8%, and interoperability success by 91%. Also, entanglement fidelity increased by 13.4%, and quantum resource use improved by 46.7% in comparison to conventional centralised systems. The results project the promise of decentralised quantum networks in facilitating secure, efficient, and interoperable quantum communication. This paper gives a foundation for scalable and secure quantum internet designs.