IP Library Granted Patent US 9,406,026
Granted Patent B2
US 9,406,026 · App. 14/868,019 · Granted Aug 2, 2016

Systems, devices, and methods for analog processing

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,406,026
App. No.
14/868,019
Granted
Aug 2, 2016
Kind
B2
Abstract

A system may include first and second qubits that cross one another and a first coupler having a perimeter that encompasses at least a part of the portions of the first and second qubits, the first coupler being operable to ferromagnetically or anti-ferromagnetically couple the first and the second qubits together. A multi-layered computer chip may include a first plurality N of qubits laid out in a first metal layer, a second plurality M of qubits laid out at least partially in a second metal layer that cross each of the qubits of the first plurality of qubits, and a first plurality N times M of coupling devices that at least partially encompasses an area where a respective pair of the qubits from the first and the second plurality of qubits cross each other.

Claims (31)

1. A quantum processor, comprising:

a plurality of qubits and one or more coupling devices arranged to form a topology for embedding a bipartite graph, or portion thereof, the topology comprising a plurality of subtopologies of qubits and coupling devices, the plurality of subtopologies arranged in a grid, each subtopology of qubits respectively comprising:

a respective first set of qubits;

a respective second set of qubits, each of of the qubits in the respective second set of qubits which crosses at least one of the qubits of the first set of qubits; and

a respective first set of coupling devices, each coupling device in the respective first set of coupling devices selectively operable to directly communicatively couple one of the qubits in the respective first set of qubits to one of the qubits in the respective second set of qubits,

the topology comprising a second set of coupling devices, each coupling device in the second set of coupling devices selectively operable to communicatively couple one of the qubits in one of the plurality of subtopologies with one of the qubits in another of the plurality of subtopologies.

2. The quantum processor of claim 1 wherein a plurality of nodes of the bipartite graph are embedded into a respective qubit, and one or more edges of the bipartite graph are embedded into a respective coupling device.

3. The quantum processor of claim 1 wherein the quantum processor is a superconducting quantum processor, and the respective first and the respective second set of qubits are superconducting qubits.

4. The quantum processor of claim 3 wherein each qubit of the respective first and the respective second set of qubits comprises an elongate loop of superconducting material interrupted by at least one Josephson junction.

5. The quantum processor of claim 4 wherein each qubit of the respective first set of qubits is laid out horizontally, and each qubit of the respective second set of qubits is laid out vertically.

6. The quantum processor of claim 1 wherein each coupling device of the respective first and the second set of coupling devices is selectively operable to couple a respective pair of qubits selected from the respective first and the respective second set of qubits in the plurality of subtopologies by at least one of a ferromagnetic coupling, an anti-ferromagnetic coupling, a zero coupling, or a transverse coupling.

7. The quantum processor of claim 1 wherein the bipartite graph is a complete graph.

8. The quantum processor of claim 7 wherein, for at least one of the plurality of subtopologies, the respective first set of qubits is a first set of four qubits, the respective second set of qubits is a second set of four qubits, and the respective first set of coupling devices is selectively operable to embed a complete K 4 graph.

9. The quantum processor of claim 7 wherein the plurality of subtopologies includes three subtopologies, and wherein, for each of the three subtopologies respectively, the respective first set of qubits is a first set of four qubits, the respective second set of qubits is a second set of four qubits, and the respective first set of coupling devices is selectively operable to embed a complete K 4 graph, the second set of coupling devices selectively operable to embed a complete K 8 graph in the three subtopologies.

10. A method of embedding a bipartite graph, or portion thereof, in a quantum processor, the quantum processor including a plurality of qubits and one or more coupling devices arranged to form a topology, the topology including a plurality of subtopologies of qubits and coupling devices, the plurality of subtopologies arranged in a grid, each subtopology of qubits respectively including a respective first set of qubits; a respective second set of qubits, each of the qubits in the respective second set of qubits which crosses at least one of the qubits of the first set of qubits; a respective first set of coupling devices, each coupling device in the respective first set of coupling devices selectively operable to directly communicatively couple one of the qubits in the respective first set of qubits to one of the qubits in the respective second set of qubits, and the topology further including a second set of coupling devices, each coupling device in the second set of coupling devices selectively operable to communicatively couple one of the qubits in one of the plurality of subtopologies with one of the qubits in another of the plurality of subtopologies, the method comprising:

embedding a plurality of nodes of the bipartite graph into a respective qubit; and

embedding one or more edges of the bipartite graph into a respective coupling device.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein embedding a plurality of nodes of the bipartite graph into a respective qubit includes embedding a plurality of nodes of the bipartite graph into a respective superconducting qubit.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein embedding a plurality of nodes of the bipartite graph into a respective superconducting qubit includes embedding a plurality of nodes of the bipartite graph into a respective superconducting qubit comprising an elongate loop of superconducting material interrupted by at least one Josephson junction.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein embedding one or more edges of the bipartite graph into a respective coupling device comprises at least one of: ferromagnetic coupling, anti-ferromagnetic coupling, zero coupling, or transverse coupling a respective pair of qubits selected from the first and the second set of qubits in the plurality of subtopologies.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein embedding a bipartite graph includes embedding a complete graph.

15. A method of producing one or more solutions to a computational problem by an analog computer, the analog computer comprising a receiver, a pre-processing manager, a quantum processor, an evolution module, and a readout device, the quantum processor including a plurality of qubits and one or more coupling devices arranged to form a topology, the topology including a plurality of subtopologies of qubits and coupling devices, the plurality of subtopologies arranged in a grid, each subtopology of qubits respectively including a respective first set of qubits; a respective second set of qubits, each of of the qubits in the respective second set of qubits which crosses at least one of the qubits of the first set of qubits; a respective first set of coupling devices, each coupling device in the respective first set of coupling devices selectively operable to directly communicatively couple one of the qubits in the respective first set of qubits to one of the qubits in the respective second set of qubits, and the topology further including a second set of coupling devices, each coupling device in the second set of coupling devices selectively operable to communicatively couple one of the qubits in one of the plurality of subtopologies with one of the qubits in another of the plurality of subtopologies,

the method comprising:

receiving the computational problem by the receiver;

mapping the computational problem onto a topological representation by the pre-processing manager;

embedding the topological representation onto the quantum processor by the pre-processing manager;

evolving the quantum processor by the evolution module; and

reading out the one or more solutions by the readout device.

16. The method of claim 15 wherein embedding the topological representation onto the quantum processor by the pre-processing manager includes embedding a graph comprising a plurality of nodes and one or more edges.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein embedding the graph comprising a plurality of nodes and one or more edges includes embedding the plurality of nodes into a respective qubit, and embedding the one or more edges into a respective coupling device.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the graph is a complete graph.

Assignments (6)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 11, 2025
From: PSPIB UNITAS INVESTMENTS II INC.
To: D-WAVE SYSTEMS INC.; 1372934 B.C. LTD.
Reel/Frame 070470/0098 →
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Apr 14, 2023
From: D-WAVE SYSTEMS INC.; 1372934 B.C. LTD.
To: PSPIB UNITAS INVESTMENTS II INC., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 063340/0888 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 20, 2022
From: PSPIB UNITAS INVESTMENTS II INC., IN ITS CAPACITY AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: D-WAVE SYSTEMS INC.
Reel/Frame 061493/0694 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 3, 2022
From: D-WAVE SYSTEMS INC.
To: PSPIB UNITAS INVESTMENTS II INC.
Reel/Frame 059317/0871 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 29, 2019
From: D-WAVE SYSTEMS INC.
To: BDC CAPITAL INC.
Reel/Frame 051144/0499 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 22, 2019
From: D-WAVE SYSTEMS INC.
To: BDC CAPITAL INC.
Reel/Frame 048674/0188 →