The goal of future quantum networks is to enable new internet applications that are impossible to achieve using only classical communication1, 2–3. Up to now, demonstrations of quantum network applications4, 5–6 and functionalities7, 8, 9, 10, 11–12 on quantum processors have been performed in ad hoc software that was specific to the experimental setup, programmed to perform one single task (the application experiment) directly into low-level control devices using expertise in experimental physics. Here we report on the design and implementation of an architecture capable of executing quantum network applications on quantum processors in platform-independent high-level software. We demonstrate the capability of the architecture to execute applications in high-level software by implementing it as a quantum network operating system—QNodeOS—and executing test programs, including a delegated computation from a client to a server13 on two quantum network nodes based on nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centres in diamond14,15. We show how our architecture allows us to maximize the use of quantum network hardware by multitasking different applications. Our architecture can be used to execute programs on any quantum processor platform corresponding to our system model, which we illustrate by demonstrating an extra driver for QNodeOS for a trapped-ion quantum network node based on a single 40Ca+ atom16. Our architecture lays the groundwork for computer science research in quantum network programming and paves the way for the development of software that can bring quantum network technology to society.

We propose an architecture for scheduling network operations enabling the end-to-end generation of entanglement according to user demand. The main challenge solved by this architecture is to allow for the integration of a network schedule with the execution of quantum programs running on processing end nodes in order to realise quantum network applications. A key element of this architecture is the definition of an entanglement packet to meet application requirements on near-term quantum networks where the lifetimes of the qubits stored at the end nodes are limited. Our architecture is fully modular and hardware agnostic, and defines a framework for further research on specific components that can now be developed independently of each other. In order to evaluate our architecture, we realise a proof of concept implementation on a simulated 6-node network in a star topology. We show our architecture facilitates the execution of quantum network applications, and that robust admission control is required to maintain quality of service.

We numerically study the distribution of entanglement between the Dutch cities of Delft and Eindhoven realized with a processing-node quantum repeater and determine minimal hardware requirements for verifiable blind quantum computation using color centers and trapped ions. Our results are obtained considering restrictions imposed by a real-world fiber grid and using detailed hardware-specific models. By comparing our results to those we would obtain in idealized settings, we show that simplifications lead to a distorted picture of hardware demands, particularly on memory coherence and photon collection. We develop general machinery suitable for studying arbitrary processing-node repeater chains using NetSquid, a discrete-event simulator for quantum networks. This enables us to include time-dependent noise models and simulate repeater protocols with cut-offs, including the required classical control communication. We find minimal hardware requirements by solving an optimization problem using genetic algorithms on a high-performance-computing cluster. Our work provides guidance for further experimental progress, and showcases limitations of studying quantum-repeater requirements in idealized situations.