Intel enters the era of full-stack quantum computing first release of SDK

As a leading hardware company, Intel's entry into quantum computing also started with hardware, developing several superconducting and semiconductor quantum processors to date, and launching Horse Ridge, a quantum computing controller chip.

And with the beta release of the Quantum SDK (Software Development Kit) today at the 2022 Intel Innovation Conference, Intel joins IBM and Google as a full-stack quantum computing company. The Quantum SDK beta is now available through Dev Cloud, Intel's developer cloud platform.

Intel's Full-Stack Quantum Computing

01Intel Enters the Era of Full-Stack Quantum Computing

Quantum computing promises to significantly accelerate the solution of complex problems and has the potential for major breakthroughs in materials, chemical and drug design, financial and climate modeling, and cryptography. Advances in quantum bits are one step toward achieving quantum utility, and major breakthroughs across the hardware and software stack will be required to realize its full potential.

In this context, Intel Labs has developed a full-stack software development kit (SDK), the Intel Quantum SDK, that interfaces with Intel's quantum computing stack. With the kit, developers are able to write new quantum algorithms for executing quantum bits on future simulated and real quantum hardware. According to Intel, test users are already exploring chemistry, materials and fluid dynamics simulations, as well as algorithms for solving linear systems of equations that can be used in real-life situations such as financial modeling.

As shown below, the Intel Quantum SDK includes an intuitive C++-based user interface, an underlying virtual machine (LLVM)-based compiler toolchain, a quantum runtime environment optimized for executing hybrid quantum classical algorithms, and a high-performance Intel Quantum Simulator (IQS) quantum bit target backend. Future versions will also feature different target backends, including the Quantum Dot Quantum Bit Simulator, and will eventually provide Intel Quantum Dot Quantum Bit devices.

Layered Architecture for Intel Quantum Computing

For technical details on the Intel Quantum SDK, it is recommended to read the following papers.

https://arxiv.org/abs/2202.11142

02Building the Quantum Computing Ecosystem

Intel is lowering the barrier of entry for quantum developers by using the industry-standard LLVM compiler, a more user-friendly interface familiar to classical computing developers. Test users include the University of Applied Sciences in Deggendorf, Germany, which is using the SDK to explore fluid dynamics problems important to aerodynamics and fluid dynamics, and Leidos, USA, which is exploring applications such as computational chemistry and materials modeling and distributed computing with data privacy and security.

In addition, Intel is funding university courses to help build an ecosystem of developers to begin exploring quantum computing programming applications. Universities will develop and share quantum courses to promote the use of Intel's Quantum SDK. The first universities announced by Intel to participate in the program include Ohio State University, Penn State University, University of Pennsylvania, Daigendorf University of Applied Sciences and Keio University in Japan.

In addition to the beta version, Intel expects to release version 1.0 in the first quarter of 2023. Although the software currently cannot interface with other SDKs such as Qiskit, Cirq, TKET, etc., Intel is developing a software that allows users to import programs developed using these other tools into the Intel SDK and expects to provide that functionality in version 1.0.

Reference link：

https://download.intel.com/newsroom/2022/2022innovation/quantum-sdk-backgrounder.pdf