A language and hardware independent approach to quantum–classical computing

A. J. McCaskey; E. F. Dumitrescu; D. Liakh; M. Chen; W. Feng; T. S. Humble

doi:10.1016/j.softx.2018.07.007

A language and hardware independent approach to quantum–classical computing

A. J. McCaskey, E. F. Dumitrescu, D. Liakh, M. Chen, W. Feng, T. S. Humble

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

36 Scopus citations

Abstract

Heterogeneous high-performance computing (HPC) systems offer novel architectures which accelerate specific workloads through judicious use of specialized coprocessors. A promising architectural approach for future scientific computations is provided by heterogeneous HPC systems integrating quantum processing units (QPUs). To this end, we present XACC (eX treme-scale ACC elerator) — a programming model and software framework that enables quantum acceleration within standard or HPC software workflows. XACC follows a coprocessor machine model that is independent of the underlying quantum computing hardware, thereby enabling quantum programs to be defined and executed on a variety of QPUs types through a unified application programming interface. Moreover, XACC defines a polymorphic low-level intermediate representation, and an extensible compiler frontend that enables language independent quantum programming, thus promoting integration and interoperability across the quantum programming landscape. In this work we define the software architecture enabling our hardware and language independent approach, and demonstrate its usefulness across a range of quantum computing models through illustrative examples involving the compilation and execution of gate and annealing-based quantum programs.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	245-254
Number of pages	10
Journal	SoftwareX
Volume	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2018.07.007
State	Published - Jan 1 2018

Funding

This work has been supported by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program of Oak Ridge National Laboratory , United States, the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) Early Career Research Award, and the DOE Office of Science ASCR quantum algorithms and testbed programs , under field work proposal numbers ERKJ332 and ERKJ335 . This work was also supported by the ORNL Undergraduate Research Participation Program , United States, which is sponsored by ORNL and administered jointly by ORNL and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE). ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the US Department of Energy under contract no. DE- AC05-00OR22725 . ORISE is managed by Oak Ridge Associated Universities , United States for the US Department of Energy under contract no. DE-AC05-00OR22750 . The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan. This work has been supported by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, United States, the US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) Early Career Research Award, and the DOE Office of Science ASCR quantum algorithms and testbed programs, under field work proposal numbers ERKJ332 and ERKJ335. This work was also supported by the ORNL Undergraduate Research Participation Program, United States, which is sponsored by ORNL and administered jointly by ORNL and the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE). ORNL is managed by UT-Battelle, LLC, for the US Department of Energy under contract no. DE-AC05-00OR22725. ORISE is managed by Oak Ridge Associated Universities, United States for the US Department of Energy under contract no. DE-AC05-00OR22750. The US government retains and the publisher, by accepting the article for publication, acknowledges that the US government retains a nonexclusive, paid-up, irrevocable, worldwide license to publish or reproduce the published form of this manuscript, or allow others to do so, for US government purposes. DOE will provide public access to these results of federally sponsored research in accordance with the DOE Public Access Plan.

Funders	Funder number
US Department of Energy
U.S. Department of Energy	DE-AC05-00OR22725
Advanced Scientific Computing Research	ERKJ335, ERKJ332
Oak Ridge Associated Universities	DE-AC05-00OR22750
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education

Keywords

Quantum computing
Quantum software

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10.1016/j.softx.2018.07.007

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abstract = "Heterogeneous high-performance computing (HPC) systems offer novel architectures which accelerate specific workloads through judicious use of specialized coprocessors. A promising architectural approach for future scientific computations is provided by heterogeneous HPC systems integrating quantum processing units (QPUs). To this end, we present XACC (eX treme-scale ACC elerator) — a programming model and software framework that enables quantum acceleration within standard or HPC software workflows. XACC follows a coprocessor machine model that is independent of the underlying quantum computing hardware, thereby enabling quantum programs to be defined and executed on a variety of QPUs types through a unified application programming interface. Moreover, XACC defines a polymorphic low-level intermediate representation, and an extensible compiler frontend that enables language independent quantum programming, thus promoting integration and interoperability across the quantum programming landscape. In this work we define the software architecture enabling our hardware and language independent approach, and demonstrate its usefulness across a range of quantum computing models through illustrative examples involving the compilation and execution of gate and annealing-based quantum programs.",

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A language and hardware independent approach to quantum–classical computing

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