XACC: a system-level software infrastructure for heterogeneous quantum–classical computing

Journal Article · 04 February 2020 · Quantum Science and Technology

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/2058-9565/ab6bf6 · OSTI ID:1649455

McCaskey, Alexander J.  ^[1]; Lyakh, Dmitry I.  ^[1]; Dumitrescu, Eugene F.  ^[1]; Powers, Sarah S.  ^[1]; Humble, Travis S.  ^[1]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Quantum programming techniques and software have advanced significantly over the past five years, with a majority focusing on high-level language frameworks targeting remote REST library APIs. As quantum computing architectures advance and become more widely available, lower-level, system software infrastructures will be needed to enable tighter, co-processor programming and access models. In this work, we present XACC, a system-level software infrastructure for quantum–classical computing that promotes a service-oriented architecture to expose interfaces for core quantum programming, compilation, and execution tasks. Additionally, we detail XACC's interfaces, their interactions, and its implementation as a hardware-agnostic framework for both near-term and future quantum–classical architectures. We provide concrete examples demonstrating the utility of this framework with paradigmatic tasks. Our approach lays the foundation for the development of compilers, associated runtimes, and low-level system tools tightly integrating quantum and classical workflows.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725
• OSTI ID: 1649455
• Journal Information: Quantum Science and Technology, Vol. 5, Issue 2; ISSN 2058-9565
• Publisher: IOPscienceCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English