Packet-switching has been widely used in classical fiber networks for better network scalability and efficiency. Recently, we introduced packet-switching as a new paradigm in quantum networking, where quantum payloads are packetized with classical headers to construct hybrid classical-quantum data frames, and the routing decisions are made in a decentralized fashion at individual routers dynamically. While there are tremendous challenges in building a generic packet-switched quantum network, our study shows that it is possible to develop metropolitan size packet-switched quantum key distribution (QKD) networks with today’s technology. This may greatly facilitate the integration of QKD with classical communication networks and accelerate its adoption.

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Stephen DiAdamo, Reem Mandil, Bing Qi, Glen Miller, Ramana Kompella, and Alireza Shabani, "Packet-switching in quantum communication: opportunities and challenges," Proc. SPIE 12446, Quantum Computing, Communication, and Simulation III, 124460O (Presented at SPIE Quantum West: February 01, 2023; Published: 8 March 2023); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2655710.