Quantum computing to help solve 5G, 6G bottlenecks

“This is the first cross-sector cooperation between quantum computing and the telecoms industry in China,” said Guo Guoping, chief scientist at Origin Quantum, referring to the deal between China Mobile and Origin Quantum. — China Daily

BEIJING: China Mobile, the world’s largest telecoms carrier with 900 million mobile subscribers, is exploring ways to tap into quantum computing to overcome computational bottlenecks facing 5G and 6G technologies.

The research institute of China Mobile has signed a deal with Origin Quantum, a Chinese startup focusing on quantum computing.

“This is the first cross-sector cooperation between quantum computing and the telecom industry in China,” said Guo Guoping, a professor of quantum computing at the University of Science and Technology of China and chief scientist at Origin Quantum.

“It has big value in exploring potential applications of quantum computing in big data as well as complex network construction and optimisation in the field of mobile communication.”

Under the agreement, Origin Quantum, based in Hefei, Anhui province, will provide quantum communication algorithms based on verifications by its superconducting quantum computer, OriginQ Wuyuan, to help overcome the computational bottlenecks facing 5G and 6G.

Cui Chunfeng, president of the future research institute of the China Mobile Research Institute, said the 5G era has seen exponential growth in computing demand from signal processing, network optimisation, big data analysis, image processing and other tasks.

Traditional computer algorithms are finding it increasingly difficult to meet such demand.

In the future, 6G will require even higher computing capabilities than 5G. It will be necessary to introduce new technologies, such as quantum computing, to help solve this challenge, Cui said.

Quantum computing is widely regarded as one of the most pioneering technologies, given its ability to harness the laws of quantum mechanics and solve calculations too complex for even the most powerful conventional supercomputers.

It would take a quantum computer only 200 seconds to process calculations that the fastest supercomputer would take about 10,000 years to complete, said Dou Menghan, deputy director of the Anhui Quantum Computing Engineering Research Centre.

Dou said comparing the computing power of a quantum computer with a conventional computer is like comparing a conventional computer with an abacus. — China Daily/ANN