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(Sharecast News) - IBM and Cisco unveiled plans to develop long-distance networks capable of linking quantum computers on Thursday, marking a significant step toward distributed quantum computing and, eventually, a quantum internet.
The companies were aiming to demonstrate a working proof-of-concept by the early 2030s, though both stress that key technologies still need to be invented.
The collaboration would centre on overcoming one of quantum computing's biggest hurdles - connecting machines that operate inside separate cryogenic environments.
IBM said it is developing a Quantum Networking Unit that will convert stationary qubits inside quantum processors into "flying" qubits.
These signals would then need to be translated from microwaves into optical pulses capable of travelling through fibre-optic networks, a task that requires sophisticated microwave-optical transducers that do not yet exist.
Cisco is designing the networking architecture to distribute quantum entanglement between machines and dynamically reconfigure connections as calculations progress.
The firm opened a dedicated research lab earlier this year and is working with IBM on open-source software to integrate the system.
Both companies are partnering with institutions such as the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory through the Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems Center to accelerate development.
IBM, which aims to have a large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer operating by 2029, had said future breakthroughs would require linking many machines.
A distributed network could eventually support tens of thousands of qubits working together, enabling trillions of quantum operations for advances in optimisation, materials science and pharmaceutical research.
While a full quantum internet remains a longer-term goal - potentially emerging by around 2040 - the companies described their joint work as a necessary foundation.
By aligning their roadmaps and co-funding academic research, IBM and Cisco said they intended to solve the challenge as a single, end-to-end system rather than a set of separate technologies.
At 0838 ET (1338 GMT), shares in IBM were up 1.71% in premarket trading in New York at $293.51, while those in Cisco Systems were ahead 0.95% at $79.14.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.