What is Quantum Corridor ^®?

Quantum Corridor Inc. is an innovative technology and network communications company that has built a next-generation coherent fiber-optic network that creates fast, safe and secure real-world quantum communication at scale for the first time ever.

Founded by technology innovators, Quantum Corridor’s next-generation fiber infrastructure connects Indiana and Illinois and creates a safe and secure information-sharing network that world-renowned research labs, private industry and government agencies in Chicago and northwest Indiana may rely upon. The inclusion of purpose-built Quantum Commercialization Center(QC3) business studios on the network will dramatically enhance the commercialization of the findings and discoveries of researchers in myriad fields.

Quantum Corridor was established in 2021 through a public-private partnership with the State of Indiana and received a $4 million grant from the Indiana READI program.

Quantum Corridor® Is Commercializing a Quantum Enabled World.

As the fastest and most secure fiber network in the Western Hemisphere, Quantum Corridor® drives confident collaboration and instantaneous information exchange between researchers and private industry in Illinois and Indiana.

The development of Quantum Corridor®’s coherent fiber network will promote the expansion of research facilities across state lines and create a purpose-built technology area that will bring the best and brightest tech talent toIndiana and Illinois.

From drug discovery and industrial chemistry to financial modeling and secure communications, quantum computing will revolutionize almost every industry. In order to do so, scientists and researchers must be able to communicate with each other securely and instantaneously. Enabling fast and certain collaboration will make their work markedly more efficient and secure.

The quantum technology industry market size is projected to be as much as $108 billion by 2040. However, that is just the beginning. Four specific industries —financial services, chemicals, life sciences, and automotive—will very quickly be revolutionized and could see a collective incremental impact of as much as $1.3 trillion by 2035.

This will only happen with collaborative communications, and Quantum Corridor® creates the fast and secure communications to support those communications.

In many ways, the quantum sector resembles the life sciences sector of a couple decades ago, i.e. a nascent field with limitless potential but limited development to date. For the quantum industry to emerge quickly, it will require massive capital investment and talent development. Additionally, it will require two things:

1. Network infrastructure that can transmit quantum information. Specifically, network infrastructure that can transmit qubits via a quantum key distribution (QKD). Quantum Corridor® is building the first long haul network of its kind. This optical network has been laid and tested and has the capacity to accept new partners to add on a QKD to test quantum transmission.
2. Affordable testing centers with the necessary equipment to develop technologies from the lab to proof of concept to commercial viability. Today commercial testing centers are scarce and exclusively tied to universities or to well-funded businesses. Testing equipment can cost $5 million to put in place and an actual facility may cost an additional $12 million to build out. Clearly, very few, if any, early-stage company can afford this. Quantum Corridor®’s Quantum Commercialization CentersTM (QC3s) will provide ready access to a properly equipped, secure environment for quantum innovators to test and commercialize quantum technologies.‍

Quantum Corridor® is the only company building the next-generation infrastructure and first-of-its-kind facilities needed to commercialize a quantum-enabled world.

‍Quantum Corridor® has constructed the most advanced long-haul quantum network in the Western Hemisphere, and is developing commercialization centers that will allow innovators to bring the transformative power of quantum technology from the lab to the real world. Quantum Corridor®’s network is the world’s first quantum-capable network deployed in a real-world environment, starting with the development of the first TAA-compliant quantum-enabled network and Quantum Commercialization CentersTM (QC3s) for defense, business, scientific and academic use.

Currently, Quantum Corridor®’s network consists of a 12-mile fiber optic network running from the Chicago ORD10Data Center at 350 E. Cermak Road in Chicago, Ill., to the Digital Crossroads Data Center in Hammond, Ind. Bymid-2024, Quantum Corridor® will extend east to Westville, Ind., near the Purdue University Northwest campus. Itwill also branch south to West Lafayette, Ind., near Purdue University’s main campus. Once completed, QuantumCorridor®’s network will be at least 263 miles long.

For additional information on the infrastructure, please see the section on “Understanding the Quantum Corridor®Network.”

‍Quantum Corridor® will support quantum innovation and development through its Quantum CommercializationCentersTM (QC3s)—purpose-built one-stop shops for researchers and quantum innovators seeking to commercialize discoveries. QC3 facilities will also act as data centers and technology hubs. Through its network andQC3s, Quantum Corridor® will lay the foundation of a world-class quantum innovation cluster that brings together research universities, industry, capital and other critical stakeholders.

‍Quantum Corridor®’s Quantum Commercialization CentersTM (QC3s) will provide ready access to a properly equipped, secure environment for quantum innovators to test and commercialize quantum technologies. Lab fit-outs will consist of a physical laboratory space area where research is carried out and an office-style ‘writeup space’ for performing desk-based analysis.

In Quantum Corridor®’s QC3 facilities, multiple fledgling startups will work in the same building and utilize the same facilities. This one-stop-shop concept provides flexible, low-cost lab space and support to develop early-stage research. In addition to shared services, Quantum Corridor® (with partners) may provide support to access venture funding, legal and IP guidance and commercial mentoring.

‍Quantum Corridor® is the only company building the next-generation infrastructure needed to commercialize a quantum-enabled world, with QC3s providing innovation infrastructure in combination with the transmission network to support end-to-end testing of quantum technologies.

‍Quantum Corridor® was initially funded by its founders before becoming a public-private partnership with the state of Indiana. Quantum Corridor® utilizes private investment and a $4 million capital infusion from the Indiana READIGrant program, and it is creating more public-private partnership funding for expansion. Today, the company’s expansion is fueled by funding from private investors, federal and state grants and secured debt.

Ciena, a global leader in networking systems, services and software, telecommunications networking equipment and software services supplier, and C1, an engineering and technology implementation provider, serve as key collaborators in solution design and tech implementation, respectively, in building the entire 263-mile path ofQuantum Corridor®’s network.

Ciena worked with Quantum Corridor® to design a solution that makes possible the secure transmission of sensitive and confidential data. Ciena’s innovative 6500 Reconfigurable Line System (RLS) and WaveLogic 5 Extreme coherent optics bring unparalleled bandwidth to one of the first networks of its kind in North America.

C1 has been involved in this monumental tech project providing oversight and operating as an extension ofQuantum Corridor®’s engineering arm. Equipped with some of the best-trained engineers in the country, the team has worked around the clock in staging, implementing, provisioning and full-scale deployment of the network.

State and local government leadership has been key to Quantum Corridor®’s early success. Indiana Gov. EricHolcomb, U.S. Senator Todd Young and Hammond Mayor Thomas M. McDermott have been advocates, encouragingfrom the start in so many ways. Having a strong working relationship with local leaders is important, and Indiana has been invaluable to Quantum Corridor®’s successful development.

Quantum Corridor® is a member of the Bloch Tech Hub, a coalition of industry, academic, government and nonprofit stakeholders led by the Chicago Quantum Exchange that was recently designated one of 31 U.S. Regional and Innovation Technology Hubs for quantum technologies by the Biden-Harris administration.

Quantum networks require very expensive fiber-optic cable to link labs, QC3s, industry partners and data centers to one another. New hardware and installation is extremely cost-prohibitive. Quantum Corridor® utilizes new and existing TAA-compliant fiber beneath the Indiana Toll Road thanks to funding and expedited permitting through its public-private partnership with the state of Indiana. The massive amount of fiber running through the entire southern part of the Lake Michigan region eliminated the need for all new fiber.

The South Shore region of Lake Michigan has a massive amount of stable and functioning rail, nearly all of which has fiber-optic cable beneath. Additionally, quantum transmissions require stability and a lack of movement or vibration along its fiber. The Midwest’s lack of tectonic activity makes the region ideal in this regard.

Further, quantum computers housed in research facilities and data centers require vast amounts of power to run the systems and water to cool them, and the industrial power base served by nearby power plants along Lake Michigan serve as resources in this endeavor. Finally, real estate along Lake Michigan is far more economical than on either the East or West Coasts, which will play a role in attracting tech companies seeking this new infrastructure.

Quantum Corridor® is being built in phases, both in capability and physical distance. The following is a breakdown of each phase and its timing:

• ‍Phase I (complete): Fiber in the ground and optics deployed.‍
• Phase II (planned mid-2024): Toshiba Systems to test Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and BB84 protocol over Quantum Corridor®’s existing 12-mile network.‍
• Phase III (planned 2025): Once successfully tested over its 12-mile network, Quantum Corridor® will deploy several entanglement nodes with clone reverse optics, a lab and mini data center within 70-kilometer proximities along the entirety of Quantum Corridor®’s route.

The quantum industry revolves around the development and application of quantum mechanics principles to create new products and services. This industry encompasses various sectors, including computing, communication, sensing and materials science. Quantum computing, the most prominent sector, aims to surpass classical computing in solving complex problems much faster. Although still facing challenges in stability and scalability, advancements in quantum error correction and material science are paving the way for more robust quantum systems. Additionally, quantum sensing is making strides in enhancing measurement precision, while quantum communication is making progress, both in terms of data transmission speed and enhanced security of data transmission.

‍The future outlook is optimistic, with significant investments from governments and private entities fueling research and development, and a growing ecosystem of startups and academic collaborations driving innovation. However, the full realization of this potential may still be years away and is contingent on overcoming several existing technical and practical challenges.

Quantum computing is a new technology for computation that leverages the laws of quantum mechanics to provide exponential performance improvement for some applications and to potentially enable completely new territories of computing. Quantum computing makes use of the laws of fundamental physics to store information and solve problems too complicated for classical computers.

Quantum communication consists of the secure transfer of quantum information across space. It can ensure the security of communications, enabled by quantum cryptography, even in the face of unlimited (i.e., quantum) computing power. Quantum communication in practice consists of the transfer of encoded quantum information between locations through a quantum-communication network.

A qubit (short for quantum bit) is the basic unit of information in quantum computing and counterpart to the bit (binary digit) in classical computing. Entangled particles can be separated into a qubit wafer or chip where they can be placed at each endpoint to exchange information. The qubit wafers or chips can be manipulated by affecting the polarity states on either end point of the transmission. A change in state for one set of the entangled particles affects the other side which is how it can be used to transmit information. Qubits are transmitted via quantum entanglement instantaneously, irrespective of space or time. Photons are then sent via optics to verify the transmissions or the loss on the transmissions.

Quantum entanglement is the phenomenon that occurs when a group of particles are generated, interact or share spatial proximity in such a way that the quantum state of each particle of the group cannot be described independently of the state of the others, including when the particles are separated by a large distance. When two particles, such as a pair of photons or electrons, become entangled, they remain connected even when separated by vast distances. In the same way that a ballet or tango emerges from individual dancers, entanglement arises from the connection between particles.

The quantum industry holds immense potential for revolutionizing various fields, from drug discovery and industrial chemistry to financial modeling and secure communications. The potential quantum technology industry market size is projected to be as much as $108 billion by 2040. However, that is just the tip of the iceberg. Just four major industries expected to see the first impact of quantum technology—financial services, chemicals, life sciences and automotive—could see a collective incremental impact of as much as $1.3 trillion by 2035.

Currently, Quantum Corridor®’s network is a 12-mile fiber optic network running from the @jengChicago ORD10Data Center at 350 E. Cermak Road in Chicago, Ill., to the Digital Crossroad Data Center in Hammond, Ind. By mid-2024, Quantum Corridor® will extend east to Westville, Ind., near Purdue University’s Northwest campus. It will also branch south to West Lafayette, Ind., near Purdue University’s main campus. Once completed, Quantum Corridor®’s network will be at least 263 miles long.

Quantum Corridor®’s network utilizes new and existing fiber and optical gear beneath the Indiana Toll Road to connect facilities between Chicago and Northwest Indiana. The network utilizes the newest and most advanced flex grid RLS solution developed by Ciena, a global leader in optical and routing systems, services and automation software. Quantum Corridor enjoys exclusive rights to this technology as part of a partnership with Ciena.

Quantum Corridor® uses advanced coherent optics to support total speeds of 40 terabits per second (Tbps), scalable to up to 1.2 petabits per second (Pbps). This network is the first public/private 40 Tbps network in the Western Hemisphere.

Quantum Corridor®’s team is aware of no other quantum network existing outside of a lab setting today. Quantum Corridor®’s network, meanwhile, is a real-world fiber-optic network that is currently functional and transmitting real-life data. In a lab setting, the large/long network is normally simulated with a spool of fiber. These networks are in controlled lab networks, so they are not exposed to things such as the motion of the fiber like a fiber run between telephone poles. These fiber spools consist of a single fiber with no splices (where two fibers are fused or melded into a single path between locations) since splices can change the way photons/light moves through the fiber. Quantum Corridor®’s network is the world’s first quantum-capable network deployed in a real-world environment.

Quantum Corridor® has roughly 1,000 times more throughput than a traditional network. It is the first network in North America to accomplish 40 terabits per second (Tbps) transmission power, making it one of the fastest Tier One networks on the continent. For reference, 40 Tbps is the equivalent of transmitting 1 million photo files or 1,500 hours of high-quality video per second. At this speed, Quantum Corridor® can transmit the entire printed collection of the Library of Congress in just two seconds.

The total throughput of Quantum Corridor®’s network will reach 1.2 petabits per second (Pbps). Today, the combined content load of all internet users globally is 1.7 Pbps. Once it reaches 1.2 Pbps, Quantum Corridor® will be able to throughput the amount of data that Google processes globally each day in under 17 seconds.

The WaveLogic 5 Extreme coherent optics utilized along Quantum Corridor is capable of achieving 800 Gbps (billions of bits per second).

Quantum Corridor® has built the fastest and most secure fiber network on the continent. Quantum Corridor®’s best practices of utilizing American-made, TAA-approved materials paired with quantum encryption make its network the most secure means of data transmission in human history.

Quantum Corridor® achieved a latency of 0.266 milliseconds of information exchange over its current 12-mile network—a transmission speed 500 times faster than the blink of an eye and far exceeding the average network’s latency, which is 12 times longer.

The first transmissions were sent in October 2023, between the Chicago ORD10 Data Center at 350 E. Cermak Road (the most interconnected multi-tenant data center in the Midwest) and the Digital Crossroads Data Center in Hammond, Indiana. The first transmissions were for the purpose of turning on the fiber network and testing its throughput.

The transmissions marked the first Coherent RLS (reconfigurable line system) transmission at 40 terabits per second (Tbps) of data, making this one of the fastest Tier One networks in North America. Coherent RLS transmission is also the baseline for quantum networking, making the Quantum Corridor®’s network the first quantum-ready network in the nation.

Quantum Corridor® successfully transmitted data over its network, but no quantum transmissions have been sent over that fiber connection at this point. True quantum networking and communication require the ability to send entangled photons over a fiber-optic cable facilitated by quantum key distribution (QKD). Quantum Corridor®’s underlying infrastructure has established a solid foundation for these capabilities through coherent RLS flexgrid transmissions. Quantum systems and other technologies can now integrate with Quantum Corridor®’s network, taking advantage of the simultaneous transmission capabilities provided by the RLS Flexgrid. This is a foundation that will eventually enable quantum transmission. The network’s fiber connections can also be used for QKD, either in dark fiber or on dedicated wavelength channels in fiber carrying classical communications traffic.

‍

A conventional network has small, intermediate re-amplification and regeneration sites (often called “huts”). These locations are not appropriate for housing research or prototype equipment such as entanglement repeaters or entanglement swapping. Quantum Corridor® is building sites specifically to house this type of equipment. These specialized sites will be able to replicate the lab-quality requirements (power, cooling, dust prevention, vibration mitigation, etc.) necessary to move quantum innovations from a controlled lab environment to an industrial environment.

While computers are fast, they are not smart. They operate on rapid trial and error until they reach a correct conclusion. The faster a computer or network of computers, the more problems it can solve in a given timeframe. The speed and throughput of Quantum Corridor®’s network will allow for a step-change advancement in computing capabilities by delivering the fastest and most secure digital connectivity in North America to the nation’s top quantum research centers, as well as supporting real-world testing of quantum communications at scale.

Autonomous vehicles represent one application that Quantum Corridor®’s network capabilities will make possible. It is widely expected that in the very near future there will be autonomous vehicles mixed in with regular traffic patterns. However, the precision and decision-making speed necessary to achieve this will require next-generation fiber connectivity and exceptional GPS coverage. Quantum Corridor®’s nearly instantaneous connectivity can allow access to an ever-changing traffic grid at speeds more than 1000 times faster than is currently possible. That heightened speed will likely prove essential to transform the dream of widespread vehicle autonomy into a reality.

In order to transmit data, quantum computers at quantum research facilities, data centers and hyperscalers must be linked by fiber optic cable capable of supporting vast amounts of data transmission at ultra-high speeds. Quantum Corridor®’s network provides that fiber connectivity.

Quantum networking is the ability for quantum computers housed in quantum research facilities and data centers to communicate nearly instantaneously via fiber-optic cable in the most cyber-secure environment possible.

Transmissions are sent via teleportation of information via entangled particles, and then photons are sent over a Coherent RLS Flexgrid network to verify the degree of loss from end point to end point. The initial teleported transmission effectively sends the bulk of the data, while the Coherent RLS Flexgrid fiber-optic transmission delivers any data that was lost in the initial teleported transmission.

A coherent wave is essentially a laser wavelength that combines multiple wavelengths that would be normally sent over traditional optical networks into one large wave of light. RLS stands for Reconfigurable Line System meaning that we can easily program and reprogram the environment for a multi-tenant transmission or support multiple wavelengths on one transmission, which sets the foundation for a quantum transmission.

Our network will have entanglement stations that are set up no more than 70 kilometers apart and will act as repeating nodes where states of polarity are swapped. Transmissions have technically been sent as far as 100 kilometers.

As quantum is such a new field, there is often a significant gulf between research results in a lab and deployable technologies in a real-world setting. There are three major areas of quantum research: quantum computing, which uses quantum technologies to do calculations; quantum networking, which uses quantum technologies to move information from place to place; and quantum sensing, which uses quantum technologies to detect physical phenomena such as electron spin and electromagnetic fields. Each of these can work with conventional networks and systems to create new applications and requirements. For example, quantum sensors do not require quantum networks or computers but do create massive new flows of data that need to be moved across conventional networks to large-scale data centers with conventional computers to process this new data type.

Conventional networks have amplification sites that are small and simply amplify a signal. These locations cannot support the “entanglement swapping” research equipment that is required for a quantum network. This type of research equipment would not be supported or welcomed in a conventional ILA “hut.” The entanglement stations will provide locations where lab-type equipment can be installed, developed and operated. The research goal is to loosen these requirements. Entanglement swapping equipment will have the same footprint and operational requirements as an amplification site for conventional optical transmission. However, it is important to recognize that the engineering necessary to make these systems a reality is still being worked out. Quantum Corridor’s network is designed to help facilitate the development of the necessary equipment and capabilities.

A quantum network connecting multiple quantum computers will allow distributed computing across multiple quantum computers at the same time. This type of distributed computing was an important research topic in the 1980s and 1990s for conventional computers, and most conventional supercomputers today use multiple distributed processors to connect to each other over a network. Distributed computing and simulation are moving ever larger data sets and facilitating ever more accurate simulations at ever higher resolutions. As a result, there is immense pressure to expand network speed and throughput. Unlocking the power of distributed computing will make quantum computing faster and more effective, as well as more readily usable for these real-world applications.

Quantum sensing is based on a new generation of sensors built from quantum systems. Quantum sensors will provide measurements of various quantities (eg, gravity, time, electromagnetism) that are orders of magnitude more sensitive than classical sensors. Quantum sensors can measure different physical properties, including temperature, magnetic field, and rotation with extreme sensitivity. Quantum sensors will also drive significant increases in data rates as they can provide real-time data at a molecular scale. As arrays of these sensors are built up, they could help researchers study the metabolism and probe the electrical activity of neurons. These types of data and high resolutions will require significant bandwidth to collect and process all the data as it is provided by these sensor arrays.

‍

Due to its advanced problem-solving and modeling capabilities, quantum computing and quantum networking will impact nearly every industry in the world, including: climate modeling; cybersecurity; defense; financial modeling and security; genome sequencing; machine learning; remote agriculture; university research; vaccines; weather forecasting; and more.