Vodafone and ORCA Computing quantum pact enhances wireless, wireline network planning
Vodafone and ORCA Computing have struck a new partnership, exploring how quantum computing technology can identify the fastest and most cost-effective routes for upgrading and extending wireline and wireless broadband connections to more customers.
Quantum computing, according to the two organizations, has the potential to handle more complex processing tasks than traditional computers when planning, installing, and optimizing large mobile radio and gigabit broadband networks.
As a large incumbent service provider, Vodafone faces two key challenges: the size and complexity of its networks grow in tandem with the demand for new digital services.
Vodafone collaborates with ORCA Computing to enhance current mathematical methods used to approximate optimal network layouts. The provider’s software will be run on ORCA Computing’s quantum computer – the ORCA PT-2 Series photonic quantum system. Solutions generated by the quantum system could, for example, help reduce total cable length and optimize the location of mobile base stations to maximize speed and minimize major civil engineering work.
Luke Ibbetson, head of research and development at Vodafone, said that quantum technology has the potential to help the company accelerate its planning processes. “Our work with ORCA Computing aims to solve ultra-complex problems which otherwise would take many hours, weeks and even years to process on today’s classical computers. Modelling new networks that maximise speed, reliability and coverage for customers, while navigating urban clutter and rural obstacles, could in the future take minutes.”
Fiber management
One of the initial applications of ORCA’s quantum technology is to address what Vodafone refers to as “complex optical fiber cable design challenges.”
The service provider expects to apply quantum principles more widely when modeling its global network, which spans over 200 destinations, including an undersea cable network that transports around one-sixth of the world’s internet traffic, as well as a new direct-to-mobile broadband satellite communications system.
The partnership with ORCA Computing, headquartered in the UK and with offices in Canada and the US, supports Vodafone’s strategy to enhance and extend its networks using greater automation and new computing technologies.
Vodafone anticipates that quantum computing will improve the accuracy of network optimization, as well as accelerate the use of machine learning and Artificial Intelligence to predict faults before they impact customers.
Public-private partnership
The Vodafone–ORCA Computing partnership builds on the joint UK government and private sector Quantum Technology Access Programme (QTAP).
During a recent QTAP event, Vodafone collaborated with ORCA Computing and other industry partners to rapidly solve the Steiner Tree Problem, a complex mathematical challenge used today to determine the most cost-effective way to extend connectivity.
Vodafone utilized the ORCA PT-2 quantum computer to run an optimization algorithm, solving a particular equation problem in minutes. This achievement paves the way for these systems to quickly solve problems that would otherwise take hours to solve using classical computers.
Under the Letter of Intent (LOI), Vodafone and ORCA Computing will complement their ongoing research into network planning with the development of additional algorithms and well-defined test projects, each with specific goals and timelines. Both parties will then evaluate a deeper commercial relationship based on the results.
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Sean Buckley
Sean is responsible for establishing and executing the editorial strategies of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report across their websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products.