ESnet Team Showcases New Services, Pushes Networking Boundaries at OFC2023

~ ESnetComms ~ Leave a comment
ESnet software engineers Sarah Larsen, Dan Doyle, and Bruce Mah at ESnet’s High Touch demonstration booth

After a pandemic-related in-person hiatus, the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC), sponsored by Optica, IEEE Communication Society, and IEEE Photonics Society, resumed operations with a sold-out event in March 2023 at the San Diego Convention center. More than 11,500 participants and 515 exhibitors attended this global event for optical communications and networking, including almost two dozen from ESnet. Planning & Architecture Acting Group Lead Chris Tracy led ESnet’s multifaceted involvement at OFC23, which ranged from a booth demonstrating ESnet’s High Touch project and panel discussion to helping implement OFCnet, an unconventional high-speed network connecting the show floor to a research center in Chicago. 

Staffed by ESnet software engineers Bruce Mah, Sarah Larsen, and Dan Doyle, the ESnet booth presented a high-level technical overview and showed examples of data and analysis from the High-Touch system being deployed in ESnet6, the latest version of ESnet’s backbone network for supporting scientific collaborations and research around the globe.​ The High-Touch project uses a combination of software and programmable, off-the-shelf hardware to deliver new network services. Its first applications provide high-precision network telemetry, including summarization of network flows and capture of packet headers, which are computed from unsampled streams of packets from multiple 100GE and 400GE links. This demonstration relied heavily on the efforts of ESnet’s Infrastructure team to install and configure dozens of data collection servers across ESnet’s network footprint.

ESnet High-Touch Architecture and Design: This diagram shows the flow of packets and network measurements through ESnet’s High-Touch system, which uses a combination of programmable, off-the-shelf hardware and software to provide high-precision network telemetry.

ESnet Executive Director Inder Monga and Chris also realized that OFC2023 offered potential for demonstrating network capabilities that went beyond the exhibition floor. Prior to OFC2022, there was no high-speed, “external” network connectivity at the event suitable for data-intensive demonstrations. The conference consisted of technical talks about papers that were being published and vendor booths. At OFC2022, Optica, Lumen, CENIC, Ciena and Smart City successfully showed in a modest proof of concept that external fiber could be brought into the convention center so that a live demonstration could be run on the show floor. For OFC2023, Ciena’s office of the CTO – who was leading the OFCnet effort – approached ESnet about demonstrating high-performance networking applications as well as emerging technologies, and more broadly, bringing some networking focus into the conference.

Working with Ciena staff, ESnet Network Services Optical Network Group Lead Patrick Dorn and Network Engineers Michael Blodgett, Kate Robinson, and Nathan Miller helped build an un-regenerated 400 Gbps link between the OFC show floor in San Diego and the StarLight Data Center in Chicago. “Un-regenerated” means the signal remains solely in the optical domain, e.g. as wavelengths of light, not an electrical signal, for transcontinental distances (more than 4,600 kilometers). 

Another interesting feature of this demonstration was that the ESnet team connected ESnet6’s production Infinera FlexILS line system to a Cisco NCS 1010 line system (provided by Cisco to support OFCnet), effectively bridging the purpose-built OFC exhibition network to a live, nation-scale infrastructure. In addition to the Infinera and Cisco line systems, Ciena provided the ultra-long-haul transponder equipment necessary to communicate over such distances, plus the engineering expertise – along with staff from Cisco, ESnet and CENIC – to ensure it all worked. 

Enlarge for more detail

Using the high-speed channel ESnet established between San Diego and Chicago, researchers from Northwestern University’s International Center for Advanced Internet Research (iCAIR) could showcase data transfer applications being used to move massive scientific datasets. By helping to implement this somewhat unconventional infrastructure, the ESnet team sought to show what might someday be possible when networks can transport 400 Gigabit Ethernet over such long distances without relying on bonding two 200 Gbps wavelengths using inverse muxing. 

Some of the ESnet team at OFC23

In addition to the two demonstrations, ESnet staff participated in multiple panel discussions and a bird of a feather (BoF) event at OFC23. For a panel on how high performance research networks continue to drive fundamental science and innovation, Chris Tracy and others used OFCnet and its connection to an external Research & Education network to discuss data transfer for data intensive science, detailed monitoring of science flows within the network, network security considerations in the research network environment, and applications like distributed computing that take advantage of these networks. At the BoF event, Inder presented, while Chris, ESnet staff, and other OFCnet volunteers brainstormed ideas for how OFCnet might evolve as a next-generation optical photonic network for OFC2024. One recommendation: a Sunday workshop titled: “How Can OFC with a Real-Life Testbed Accelerate Innovation in the Design and Operation of Next Generation Optical Photonic Networks?” The BoF participants believe this would provide an opportunity to invite speakers and publish papers within the context of the workshop for these kinds of networking-related topics.

Planning for next year’s iteration of OFCnet (March 24-28, 2024) has already kicked off, with ESnet once again participating in a leadership role. The goals for OFCnet24 are ambitious. The volunteer team hopes to attract attendees from different communities, such as networking science (academia and research labs); make it possible to showcase high performance networking application use cases and other emerging technologies – turning the exhibits floor as a science accelerator; and bridge the exhibit and technical programs by offering the opportunity to present advanced technical papers with live demos. 

“It was great to be able to demonstrate some of the innovative services we’re delivering through the High Touch project,” said Chris. “And of course we welcome any opportunity for ESnet to participate in something such as OFCnet that advances the state of the art for networking and allows us to showcase emerging technologies on our network. Next year is going to be even more exciting.” 

Marc Lyonnais (right), OFCnet chair and director of external research at Ciena, presented Planning & Architecture Acting Group Lead Chris Tracy (left) and Executive Director Inder Monga (center) with a plaque in thanks for ESnet’s OFCnet efforts

The Science Conversation Continues at Confab23, Oct. 16-18 in D.C.

~ ESnetComms
confab23 logo

Registration is now open for Confab23, to be held October 16 to 18 in Gaithersburg, Maryland! 

ESnet’s second annual Confab gathering is designed for scientists across all disciplines who want to vastly improve their workflows and collaborations to accelerate time to discovery; for network engineers from national labs and universities who support science IT services for researchers on their campuses; and for the research networking professionals who partner with ESnet to move data across the world.

Last year’s inaugural Confab in Berkeley, held concurrently with the unveiling of ESnet6, was a fun and resounding success — and we believe Confab23 will continue and broaden the conversation we started. 

Confab23 will showcase scientists who use ESnet today to perform real-time data analysis, leverage multiple supercomputers in parallel for large-scale simulations, and collaborate with colleagues on experiments as if side by side while thousands of miles apart – among many other applications.

Together we can chart the future of scientific data management and integrated scientific infrastructure.  

In addition to lively conversation and informal technical discussions between our ESnet, DOE, and scientific community attendees, the program includes:

  • Updates and discussions with the Department of Energy on major initiatives, such as the Integrated Research Infrastructure initiative and the High Performance Data Facility, that support our shared vision — that scientific progress will be completely unconstrained by the physical location of instruments, people, computational resources, or data.
  • An overview of quantum networking activities by Inder Monga, part of a lively evening program

We will also hold a meeting of the ESnet Site Coordinator Committee at the same venue on October 19 and 20.

If you have any questions or suggestions – or would like to offer a presentation or session topic – please email our workshop team directly at confab@es.net.

Register now >

ESnet6 Honored with DOE Project Assessment Award

~ ESnetComms
Man presenting award to woman flanked by flags
DOE Office of Project Assessment Director Kurt W. Fisher and ESnet Network Services Group Lead Kate Petersen Mace, ESnet6 project director, who accepted the award on behalf of the ESnet6 team

It’s rare for any technology project to be completed early and under budget — let alone a massively complex one involving extensive hardware and software upgrades across many states. Yet Energy Sciences Network’s (ESnet) ESnet6 project was finished more than two years ahead of schedule and for less than it was estimated. In recognition of this unusual feat, the Department of Energy (DOE) recently presented ESnet with a special Project Assessment Award. (As an IT project, ESnet6 is not eligible for the DOE’s Project Management Awards.) 

ESnet6 is the newest iteration of the DOE’s high-performance network, also known as the “data circulatory system” for the DOE science complex. Not only did ESnet6 boost bandwidth to more than 46 Terabits per second — a significant increase – it also automated network operations for scalability and reliability, improved security services, and replaced aging equipment. In addition, ESnet6 offers greater programmable network flexibility that will support evolving computation and data models in the emerging exabyte data era. 

Six years in the making, ESnet6 was completed well under budget six months before the forecasted early finish date of January 2023 – and more than two years ahead of the forecasted CD-4 date in January 2025. 

DOE Office of Project Assessment Director Kurt W. Fisher presented the award in a private ceremony at the DOE Project Management Workshop in Washington, DC, in April. ESnet Network Services Group Lead Kate Petersen Mace, ESnet6’s project director, accepted on behalf of the ESnet6 team.

“ESnet6 represents the culmination of several years of extraordinary commitment and tireless dedication by all of ESnet’s staff,” said Inder Monga, ESnet’s executive director. “We’re grateful to Berkeley Lab for its support and to DOE for recognizing the collective efforts of the team behind this critical piece of scientific infrastructure.” 

Rotating GIF of two zoom galleries of ESnet6 project staff
Part of the ESnet6 team smiling at the CD-4 Review meeting, joined by reviewers and DOE representatives.

At ESnet, Innovation and Collaboration Build Solutions for Today and Tomorrow

~ Inder Monga ~ 1 Comment

Inder Monga reflects on 2022’s highlights and looks ahead to the future.

ESnet Executive Director Inder Monga at the launch event celebrating the unveiling of ESnet6, the sixth generation of the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) dedicated high-speed scientific network.

Dear Friends, Well-wishers, Colleagues, and all of ESnet,

It’s been less than a year since ESnet formally introduced ESnet6, the latest iteration of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Sciences Network. And we’ve already made much progress in enhancing research capabilities and data sharing across a broad spectrum of scientific applications.

For more than 35 years, ESnet – headquartered at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory – has served as the data circulatory system for the DOE, connecting all of its national laboratories, tens of thousands of DOE-funded researchers, and DOE’s premier scientific instruments and supercomputing centers. This interconnected system enables data to move quickly between sites and collaborators, accelerating time-to-discovery.

ESnet6, unveiled in October 2022 in conjunction with Confab, our first user meeting, takes the network’s capabilities to the next level. ESnet6 represents a transformational change in the way networks are built for research, with improved capacity, resiliency, and flexibility. With more than 46 Terabits per second of aggregate bandwidth deployed, it features a significant increase over prior generations of the network. This boost in capacity enables scientists to more quickly process, analyze, visualize, share, and store the mountains of research data produced by experiments, modeling, and simulations.

But the new network – which was completed under budget and ahead of schedule – does more than just increase capacity. With ESnet6, our engineers have developed smart, programmable, and automated services uniquely built to support the multi-petabyte dataflows typical of science research today. In addition, they are future-proofed to manage the emerging exabyte data era, streaming data from instruments and high-impact digital twins that require predictability and low latency. 

For example, ESnet is a critical component of Berkeley Lab’s Superfacility Project, which offers researchers seamless analysis of their experimental data in real time and regardless of their location. Additionally, with the recent ‘Superlab’ demonstration of the ARIES project by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), we demonstrated how these new capabilities can be used to “address large-scale emergent challenges to meet the nation’s clean energy goals and to reinforce the energy security needs of every community,” as Rob Hovsapian, ARIES research lead in hybrid energy systems at NREL, noted in a collaborative news release announcing this project. With this in mind, we’re already looking to what users and stakeholders would like to see next.

Four strategic thrusts will define our efforts: 

  1. Transform Operations: While priority one is to operate a highly performant and robust network, we are also exploring new architectures, infrastructure enhancements, improvements to business processes, additional orchestration and automation capabilities, and ways to integrate new technologies like AI/ML – all to improve the resiliency, efficiency, and effectiveness of the user facility.
  2. Expand Services Portfolio: Our current services are foundational to the national labs and science communities. As we enter into an exascale era, with data-intensive instruments and widely distributed experiments, the network will play a key role in providing critical data services and supporting distributed data workflows, both for our scientists and the sites. The staff continue to innovate, experiment, prototype, and transition to production new data and network services. In addition, we actively look to expand the modalities through which scientists acquire data, from private 5G to low-Earth-orbiting satellites in remote locations, and potentially through quantum networks.
  3. Increase Stakeholder Value: As high-speed and big-data networking experts, we can co-design solutions based on upcoming requirements with our scientific and site user community to ensure that ESnet provides the most value to all of DOE as well as the worldwide research and education community stakeholders.
  4. Build Accountability and Transparency: We will foster the culture of accountability and transparency that provides the right environment for our users and our employees to perform at their personal best. 

ESnet exemplifies the team science value of Berkeley Lab. Our partnerships with all of the DOE national labs, vendors, global research and education networks, and academia have been essential to the design and build of ESnet6 and our future endeavors. Our integration of experimental, networking, and computational facilities gives scientists the ability to take a giant leap forward in gaining insight from massive datasets produced by experiments that use large-scale instruments such as genome sequencers, telescope observatories, X-ray light sources, and particle accelerators, among many others. We know we cannot do this alone. Participating in community-based collaborative initiatives better positions us to address future needs for all users and stakeholders. Some examples include:

  1. Co-design with science collaborations: SENSE/Rucio integration (collaboration with U.S. CMS [Compact Muon Solenoid experiment]) and GRETA networking (collaboration with Nuclear Physics) in co-designing data/science workflows with scientists.
  2. Open source contributions: Collaborating with and contributing to the SURFnet Workflow Orchestrator for network automation. (Please see the “From Zero to Orchestrated—A Workflow Orchestrator Beginners’ Workshop” at TNC, June 2023, co-organized with SURFNet.) Contributions to perfSONAR, iperf3, Grafana, and many others are part of ESnet’s work with the larger networking community.
  3. Strategic collaborations with worldwide R&E partners: Transatlantic MOU with ANA (Advanced North Atlantic) collaboration partners to make “gap on oceans” irrelevant when it comes to scientists.
  4. Enabling impactful networking research through multi-organization collaboration: Research collaborations on the FABRIC Testbed to supercharge network and distributed systems research within the U.S. and internationally. The Berkeley Lab–led Quantum Testbed (QUANT-NET) will accomplish the same for quantum communications and computing.

We are applying the same thoughtfulness to our staffing efforts. People want to work in organizations that have meaningful impact and contribute to humanity, and we are building the foundation to support this. Between 2018 and 2022, ESnet grew by 200%, hiring and adding a diverse array of skillsets to realize a dedicated staff of more than 100. As we look to the future, we strive to build a balanced workplace that represents a diversity of backgrounds, skillsets, regions, and states. 

Ultimately, ESnet’s success depends on the sum of its people – those who work in or with our organization have ample opportunity to have a meaningful impact on humanity and science.

Ultimately, ESnet’s success depends on the sum of its people – those who work in or with our organization have ample opportunity to have a meaningful impact on humanity and science. In addition to our commitment to next-generation enabling technologies, this is a key focus for ESnet over the next 10 years and beyond. ESnet6 is designed to support the DOE’s multi-billion dollars of investments in scientific research that touches our everyday lives, and we will continue to invest in these and related technologies, services, and people to support the needs of the DOE, HPC, and global science communities. 

The ESnet Portal: Visualizing the Network

~ ESnetComms

As a facility that provides reliable, high bandwidth interconnectivity to scientists at national laboratories, universities, and research institutions, it is important for ESnet to share timely and accessible information about the network and its current status. The my.es.net portal has been an innovative place for sharing this information since its inception. 

Following a six-month upgrade project, ESnet’s public-facing portal now provides improved visualization capabilities. It allows users to easily view the core network and its connections to national lab sites. With this updated version, users can now see the network in a more detailed view that also provides the ability to zoom in and pan. By utilizing an in-house developed network visualization library, this enhanced version synthesizes a longer time range of data to provide faster, more accurate, and more detailed network topology updates.

You can experience the new version and look at all its new capabilities at https://my.es.net

Building on a Treasure Trove of Measurement Data

In 2021, ESnet rolled out its Stardust system, which collects precise network measurement data and allows users to retrieve information about specific equipment over a given time range. This updated release builds on Stardust’s capabilities, giving users a window into measurement data over the entire network topology.

A New View of the Network

Historically, ESnet’s portal has only offered a logical view of the network, visualizing the connections between sites but only approximating the network footprint. The updated version offers two visualization options: an updated and expanded logical “subway-style” view and a geographically referenced view. While building both views of the network, care was taken to strike a balance between providing a visualization that is as rich and accurate as possible while minimizing visual clutter. The approach uses interactive layers to help target the most important network information.

ESnet pictured in “logical” view

ESnet pictured in “geographic” view

Understanding Network Utilization

One of the most important things to understand when building and maintaining a network is measurements of bandwidth utilization, particularly at peak and near-peak conditions. To give users a clearer understanding of these key peak bandwidth utilization measurements, the map sends Stardust queries for traffic aggregations that display the “95th percentile,” or near-peak traffic, and a “maximum,” or peak measurement for a given period of time. These measurements give a sense of the “high water marks” for the network, letting ESnet know when a “flood” might occur and helping visualize the available headroom and plan for times of highest utilization.

Map (with options) picturing the “high water marks” for the last week

Tools for the Future

In conjunction with ESnet’s Stardust system, this update to the portal allows for much more responsiveness to changes in the network topology in the future. When a new router or site is added, ESnet can bring a visualization of it online in minutes rather than days. 

With this added capability and flexibility, ESnet may enhance site-centric capabilities, providing tailored views or new network layers (e.g., layers of university sites or peering points with commercial and R&E networks) to better inform users.
The portal’s new visualization of ESnet is a significant upgrade that provides researchers, network engineers, and other stakeholders with a more comprehensive, detailed, and accurate view of our network. With new statistical methods, more extensive time-based analysis, and a greater range of visualization capabilities, our portal update provides valuable insights into network behavior and performance. If you’re an ESnet user, check out the new tool and see how it can help you understand the network in greater detail.

Simplification and Advancement in Segment Routing with Nicholas Buraglio

~ ESnetComms

Segment Routing is a way to increase network efficiency by prepending a set of route instructions to a packet, allowing it to traverse directly to a specific destination. Much has been said about advantages and disadvantages of segment routing in the networking industry. There are the more obvious advantages like the ability to simplify the network and reduce resource utilization and reducing the number of nodes that need to be touched for path provisioning and changes but there are also many limitations. 

In this blog piece, Nicholas Buraglio, computer systems engineer on the Planning and Architecture team, discusses segment routing in scientific networks and how it can be highly beneficial. 

Segment Routing: Simplification and Advancement for Science Networks

Over the last few years, much of the networking industry has been abuzz about segment routing (SR) – a technology that seemingly straddles the line between the promised benefits of software defined networking (SDN) and the operational needs of large, complex, geographically diverse networks. Meeting that confluence of “granular control” and extreme scalability is no easy task. Add to that the prospect of simplification of a well known complex and uncommon set of controls and protocol stacks, and one starts to understand why SR is so highly desirable. 

So what is SR and what does this solution bring that makes it so desirable? In a nutshell, SR is a networking technology that combines the features of Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS), with the flexibility of SDN. It allows for controller augmented and source-based routing without the need for maintaining state across a network core and for seamless fallback to traditional network protocols in the case of failures. Alone, each of these attributes are very compelling, but together they make for an extremely robust solution. SR “provides more with less,” in that it requires fewer protocols to enable more and increasingly complex features. 

Setting aside the fact that as operators of boundary pushing high performance networks we are able to take advantage of more simple configuration (and therefore easier to provision and operate), SR opens up the world of SDN by offloading computationally complex tasks, such as path calculation and re-routing, but leaves behind the overhead often associated with controller-based networking technologies such as OpenFlow, which place the controller in the critical path for most control plane functions. SR controllers allow for a far more seamless transition from traditional, discreet router based networking decisions and the ability to offload tasks such as pre-calculating data paths and re-optimizing the network.   

In addition to the already lengthy list of advantages, SR also boasts a version that is derivative of the way that most large networks have been built by leveraging MPLS. This derivation makes for a significantly easier shift in operations as the day to day concepts are very similar and often well known to existing support and engineering staff. On a more technical level, SR contains many of the powerful and widely deployed features of MPLS in addition to many functional improvement and extensions, such as Traffic Engineering, used for guaranteeing bandwidth for experiments and other related functions, path engineering, robust failure protection, and compatibility with legacy protocols such as RSVP-TE. These features are especially compelling for ESnet since this allows for our OSCARS service to flourish and expand. 

Practically speaking, SR allows for complex operations on a large network, especially in the realm of traffic engineering. As an example, an intricate path from point A to point B can be calculated, provisioned, re-routed, and adjusted from an external interface that only needs to speak to a single device at the start of the requested path. For example, using the following five router topology, paths can be easily provisioned that connect resources using guaranteed bandwidth via non-default paths.   

Diagram 1: Five router topology using segment routing. Credit: Nick Buraglio.

Diagram1 shows that the red dotted line is a far longer path from System C to System D. While this may seem like a simple process, it is counter to traditional routing which would, by default, choose the direct path between router 4 and router 5. In addition to this capability, SR allows for additional criteria that is not available for consideration in the legacy protocol suites to be taken into account when building a path. Again referencing Diagram 1, we consider the blue path. Asserting the path between System A and system B is lower latency, SR allows for latency to be considered in path selection. Practically speaking this again allows for non-traditional network traffic engineering to be leveraged in order to meet a far greater variety of requirements that researchers and scientists may require.  

Want to know more about the protocols used within SR and to incorporate a Path Computation Element (PCE)? Find information on that subject and more here.

Chin Guok Takes on Role as ESnet’s Chief Technology Officer

~ ESnetComms

Chin Guok has been named as Energy Sciences Network (ESnet)’s Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Guok will lead the Planning and Innovation Department while taking on the additional role of CTO.

Guok has been with ESnet for more than 25 years and has led many innovative projects during that time. In 2006, Guok conceived and led the On-Demand Secure Circuits and Advance Reservation System (OSCARS) project which won the R&D 100 award as well as the Department of Energy Secretary’s Honor award. 

“Chin has long demonstrated leadership and innovation across the global research and experimentation ecosystem,” said Inder Monga, executive director of ESnet. “It is gratifying to see him take on this more prominent role as well as realize his technical vision and implement strategy at ESnet.” 

More recently, Guok led the design for ESnet’s next-generation network, ESnet6, which launched in early October 2022. He was also the lead in delivering the market-leading ESnet High Touch project and the in-network cache deployment, along with being deeply engaged with the SENSE/Rucio collaboration and the ExaFEL project. Guok is also a sought-after speaker internationally and most recently gave a keynote address at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI) anniversary event. 

“I am honored to be asked to take on this new position at ESnet,” said Chin Guok. “ESnet has long been at the forefront of scientific networking and I am excited to have a larger role in guiding its future success.” 

Guok’s research interests include high-performance networking and network protocols, dynamic network resource provisioning, network tuning issues, and hybrid network traffic engineering. Guok received an M.S. in Computer Science from the University of Arizona in 1997 and a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Pacific in 1991.

Quantum Networking Basics With ESnet’s Wenji Wu

~ ESnetComms

Quantum networks may provide new capabilities for information processing and transport, potentially transformative for science, economy and natural science uses. These capabilities, provably impossible for existing “classical” physics based networking technologies, are of key interest to many U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) mission areas, such as climate and Earth system science, astronomy, materials discovery, and life sciences, etc.

In August of 2021, the Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR) division of the US Department of Energy’s Office of Science announced a funding award for several quantum information system projects in support of the U.S. National Quantum Initiative. One of these projects is QUANT-NET (Quantum Application Network Testbed for Novel Entanglement Technology), a collaboration between Berkeley Lab, UC Berkeley, University of Innsbruck, and Caltech.

QUANT-NET research is focused on building a software-controlled quantum computing network, linking Berkeley Lab and UC Berkeley. ESnet executive director Inder Monga is the project principal investigator. The idea for QUANT-NET was born out of the 2020 DOE Quantum Internet Blueprint workshop, where representatives from DOE national laboratories, universities, industry, and other U.S. agencies came together to define a roadmap for building the first nationwide quantum Internet.

In this post, Dr. Wenji Wu, an ESnet networking researcher who is part of the QUANT-NET team, describes what future capabilities quantum networking may provide and why researchers believe quantum networks will transform scientific activities. 

Why Quantum Networks?

In the past thirty years, significant progress has been made in the fields of quantum technologies. The combination of quantum mechanics and information science forms a new area – quantum information science (QIS). In the broad context of QIS, quantum networks have an important role for the physical implementation of quantum computing, communication, and metrology. Quantum networks are envisioned to achieve novel capabilities that are provably impossible using classical networks and could be transformative to science, the economy, and national security. These novel capabilities range from cryptography, sensing and metrology, distributed systems, to secure quantum cloud computing. 

A few examples of this include: 

  • Secure Quantum Communication: Quantum networks take advantage of the laws of quantum physics (i.e., superposition and entanglement) to transmit information, potentially achieving a level of privacy and security that is impossible to achieve with today’s Internet. See Figure 1a.
  • A Quantum Network of Clocks: Recent research shows that a quantum network of atomic clocks can result in a substantial boost of the overall precision if multiple clocks are properly connected by quantum mechanical means. Compared to a single clock, the ultimate precision will improve as much as 1/K, where K is the number of clocks. If the same clocks are connected via a classical network, the precision scales as much as 1/SQRT(K). Ultimately, a quantum network of atomic clocks can surpass the Standard Quantum Limit (SQL) to reach the ultimate precision allowed by quantum theory — the Heisenberg limit. See Figure 1b.
  • Upscaling Quantum Computing: An individual quantum computer is typically limited in size. Connected by quantum networks, multiple quantum computers can work together as one big quantum computer to address larger problems. See Figure 1c.
Diagram Description automatically generated
Figure 1a: Secure quantum communication (credit: Chen et al. https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.124.070501).Figure 1b: A quantum network of clocks (credit: Komar, Peter et al. “A quantum network of clocks.” Nature Physics 10.8 (2014:582-587).Figure 1c: Upscale quantum computing (credit: Thor Swift, Berkeley Lab).

Quantum Network Basics

Quantum networks are distributed systems of quantum systems, which are able to exchange quantum bits (qubits) and generate and distribute entangled quantum states. As illustrated by Figure 2, a quantum network conceptually consists of three essential quantum components: 

  1. Quantum nodes, which are physical quantum systems (e.g., trapped ions, quantum dots, Nitrogen-vacancy centers) connected to the quantum network. Well-characterized matter qubits are typically defined and created from these physical quantum systems. Quantum information is generated, processed, and stored locally by matter qubits in quantum nodes.  Matter qubits, often referred to as stationary qubits, are typically isolated from the surrounding environment to minimize decoherence and facilitate various quantum operations. 
  2. Quantum channels, which connect physically separated quantum components in the quantum network and transfer quantum states faithfully from place to place using the flying qubits. Optical fibers and free-space communications are typically implemented as quantum channels because they have a reduced chance of decoherence and loss. Photons with polarization or time-bin encoding are the flying qubit of choice. The implementation of quantum channels also requires that information encoded in a stationary qubit is reliably transferred to a flying qubit, and vice versa. 
  3. Quantum repeaters, which allow the end-to-end generation of quantum entanglement, and thus, the end-to-end transmission of qubits by using quantum teleportation. Quantum repeaters typically implement entanglement-related operations such as entanglement swapping and entanglement purification.

Figure 2: A quantum network consists of three essential quantum systems

In quantum networks, qubits cannot be copied due to the no-cloning theorem, which forbids the creation of identical copies of an arbitrary unknown quantum state. Therefore, qubits can not be physically transmitted over long distances without being hindered by the effects of signal loss and decoherence inherent to most transport mediums such as optical fiber. However, qubits can share a special relation known as entanglement. Entangled qubits have interesting non-local properties, even if they are located at distant nodes. Consuming an entangled qubit pair, a data qubit can be sent deterministically to a remote node. Entanglement is the fundamental building block of quantum networks. 

As illustrated in Figure 3, key entanglement-related operations include: 

  • Entanglement Purification: Multiple low-quality entanglements can be purified into a high-quality entanglement. 
  • Entanglement Swapping: Long-distance entanglement can be built from shorter segments, with flying qubits transmitted locally.
  • Teleportation: to enable the end-to-end transmission of qubits.

Figure 3: Key entanglement-related operations

Classic networks typically concern the performance metrics such as bandwidth, throughput, and latency. Likewise, quantum networks care for performance metrics related to quantum operations. Critical quantum quality metrics include entanglement generation rate, decoherence rate, and fidelity. In quantum networks, fidelity is a key indicator to characterize the quality of quantum states or operations. In general, a minimum fidelity (Fmin) is required to support quantum operations.

It is envisioned that quantum networks will operate in parallel with classic networks. Quantum networks are not meant to replace classic networks but rather to supplement them with quantum capabilities.

Current Status

Today, quantum networks are in their infancy. Like the Internet, quantum networks are expected to undergo different stages of research and development until they reach their full functionality. There are many promising R&D efforts underway looking to develop quantum network technologies. The DOE unveiled a quantum Internet blueprint in 2020 to accelerate research in quantum science and technology, with the emphasis on the creation of a quantum Internet.

Q&A with Jessy Schmit, ESnet’s Network Engineering Group Lead!

~ ESnetComms

Jessy Schmit came to ESnet from Pilot Fiber in New York, NY, where for the last six years, she was the Senior Manager of Network Operations and Support. Before Pilot Fiber, Jessy worked at a creative advertising agency and spent several years in the arts as a performer and director. Her background includes strategic leadership in marketing, customer experience, design, and technology. 

Schmit recently earned her Master’s Degree in Technology Management from New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering. 

Originally from Seattle, she currently resides in Brooklyn and spent seven years in the San Francisco Bay Area getting her undergraduate degree. She looks forward to reconnecting with her West Coast roots at ESnet.  

Question 1: What brought you to ESnet?

I had the opportunity to work with Jay Stewart at my last company, his recommendation and an instant connection to the people I met during the interview process made the decision a no-brainer.  ESnet’s mission and values are something I can really get behind!

Question 2: What is the most exciting thing in your field right now?

I nerd out on customer experience and process improvements, so I am excited about the modernization of IT back office, technical support, and self-service for engineering organizations. Increasing automation strategically without sacrificing the beneficial human elements of customer and end-user support can speed execution and ease the burden on engineering and support teams. Network automations can also reduce error and improve availability and resilience. In other sectors, specifically healthcare, we’re seeing how self-service, increased resiliency and the improved application of technology can make people feel more connected to their provider or service.  

Question 3: What excites you most about your role?

The people! The candid and thoughtful approach to questions and discussion was really refreshing during my interview process. And now I have the opportunity to work beside those totally awesome ESnet folks everyday and they’ve surpassed my expectations. I am excited to continue collaborating with such a talented and dedicated team of performers across the organization and learning all I can in my new environment. Working to further such a worthy mission makes it pretty easy to feel passionate about my new job.

Question 4: What challenges/opportunities are you looking forward to tackling?

I’m excited to figure out what motivates my team. I’ve found that what drives an engineer is wildly different from what motivates an accountant or a professor or chef (or any other role). Creating an environment where everyone feels supported and enabled to perform exemplary work that betters the larger organizational goals but also, ideally, their own development goals, is a focus for me.  

Question 5: How do you feel your past experience will transfer to your role at ESnet?

Looking at the typical pedigree of a team lead in technology or science, the benefits of a background in the arts might not be immediately obvious. While traditional technical skills may get a candidate in the door, it’s really the interpersonal and communication skills that allow them to thrive in their role. Entering the realm of technology and science from another discipline provides me with a unique perspective that can add diversity to the viewpoints of the team. My previous role was at a startup ISP in Manhattan and the pace of progress on our network operations and engineering meant I had to be agile, speedy, creative, and responsive – around the clock – to emergencies and customer needs. I’m hopeful the transfer of my work ethic, adaptability, and empathy will allow me to provide individualized support for my team(s) and future customers. 

Question 6: What book, movie, or podcast would you recommend?

I could talk about movies for days, but I’d say “KIMI” for a little tech industry suspense. I would also recommend “The Woman King” for some stellar performances and an inspiring story, and “Severance” (TV show) for a fascinating, and sometimes super funny, dystopian drama.

Join ESnet at SC22!

~ ESnetComms

The International Conference for High Performance Computing, Networking, Storage, and Analysis (SC22) is just around the corner and ESnet staff will be there to connect, learn, and share their knowledge with the HPC community. SC22 will take place November 13 – 18 in Dallas, Texas, and is primarily in person for the first time since 2019. 

Here are some staff highlights:

Sunday, November 13

  • 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM  INDIS 2022: Annual International Workshop on Innovating the Network for Data-Intensive Science, Mariam Kiran, Anu Mercian, Room C156 
  • 8:55 AM     INDIS 2022: Panel Discussion: Network Research Exhibition: the Future of Networking and Computing with Big Data Streams, Tom Lehman, C
  • 3:30 PM     INDIS 2022 Featured Technical Talk: Quantum Communication: A Physics Experiment of a Network Paradigm Shift, Inder Monga, Room C156
  • 4:10 PM     Paper: EJ-FAT Joint ESnet JLab FPGA Accelerated Transport Load Balancer, Stacey Sheldon, Yatish Kumar, Michael Goodrich, Graham Heyes, Room C156  

Tuesday, November 15

  • 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM    Paper: HPC Network Architecture, Mariam Kiran, Room C141-143-149
  • 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM    Demo: Global Petascale to Exascale Workflows for Data Intensive Science, Mariam Kiran, DOE Booth #1600
  • 3:15 PM    Featured DOE Booth Talk: ESnet6: How ESnet’s Next-Generation Infrastructure Will Enable Integrated Research Initiative Workflows, Inder Monga, DOE Booth #1600

Wednesday, November 16

  • 11:00 AM    SC22 Network Research Exhibition, SC22-NRE-15, SENSE and Rucio/FTS/XRootD Interoperation, Tom Lehman, Xi Yang, Caltech Booth #2820
  • 2:00 PM    SC22 Network Research Exhibition, SC22-NRE-13, AutoGOLE/SENSE: End-to-End Network Services and Workflow Integration, Tom Lehman, Xi Yang, Caltech Booth #2820

Thursday, November 17

  • 10:00 AM     Demo: Janus Container Management and the EScp Data Mover, Ezra Kissel, Charles Shiflett, Md Arrifuzzaman, DOE Booth #1600