Quantum router achieves 98% transmission efficiency in Wukong tests

Three independent quantum routers and a two-layer network were used on China’s Origin Wukong superconducting quantum computer. For an individual router, information transmission efficiency reached up to 98%. When routing crossed two layers, overall transmission efficiency was 93%.

The target is bucket-brigade QRAM, or quantum random-access memory. The coherent routing system links routing functions across layers and is designed to act as a “fast lane” for data transmission, according to the report. Building three independent routers allowed the teams to assess the individual units before testing a more complex network.

Transmission efficiency is not the same measurement as fidelity. In separate random-access tests, the teams reported average fidelity of 94.8% for the single router and 82.4% for the two-layer network. Both measures declined when the second routing layer was added.

That difference is the central engineering signal in the experiment. A strong result from one router establishes one component of the system; the network test shows what happens when additional routing stages are connected. The 98% figure therefore describes an individual router, not the fidelity of the full network or the performance of Origin Wukong as a whole.

Concretely, the work gives quantum-memory researchers a route to pursue scalable QRAM on existing superconducting hardware rather than stopping at an isolated routing component. The researchers identify possible gains in computing cost, efficiency and the integration of quantum chips with circuit design, but those remain potential benefits. For now, the demonstrated result is a hardware test of individual routers and a two-layer network.