Building a ‘Quantum Internet’

© Mark Ollig

We are at the beginning of a technological paradigm shift.

Quantum computers, the next millennium of computer processing technology, are being built and programmed.

Today’s computers process data using binary digital bits in a logical state of either a 0 or a 1.

A quantum computer processes informational data using qubits.

A quantum bit or qubit can have simultaneous 0 and 1 logic states using superposition (a foundational principle of quantum mechanics).

Quantum entanglement occurs when logical states of a pair or group of qubits become linked in such a way it becomes impossible to disentangle – even if they’re physically separated.

It’s been challenging for me to understand how these quantum qubits work, mainly because I have only worked with binary digital bits for most of my life.

Programmers are coding quantum computing circuits using high-level programming languages, such as Python.

Qiskit, an opensource software development kit (SDK), is used with Python within the quantum computer programming environment.

And now, a new, highly-advanced network for quantum computings’ seemingly unlimited processing power potential, is underway.

It is called the quantum internet.

The advantages of a quantum computing internet network include linking quantum computers with each other to increase their computing processing abilities, which, by themselves, is incredible.

The official announcement for a quantum internet was made by the US Department of Energy last week in Chicago, IL.

A quantum internet network, allowing the exchange of data between quantum computers, is being designed and developed within the 17 national laboratories of the US Department of Energy.

The closest quantum internet national laboratory network to Minnesota would be at the Ames Lab located in Ames, IA.

According to the US Department of Energy, a quantum internet will use the laws of quantum mechanics to control and transmit information more securely and faster than ever before.

Although this network will someday be used by the public, during its initial stages of development, the quantum internet will be a protected communications network for science quantum cryptography tasks, scientific and industrial use, and US national security.

Quantum computing scientists will use advanced crypto-encryption protocols to make the quantum internet a virtually unhackable network.

Quantum technology utilizes the distinct properties of atomic particles, atoms, photons, and electrons, to create incredibly powerful data processing computers and other devices.

My understanding of quantum entanglement making up a quantum transmission control network is that it is a state in which atomic particles can share data in diverse proximity over long distances instantaneously without the entangled particles having to be physically connected.

Attempting to comprehend a hyper-entangled quantum state can be somewhat, shall I say, psychologically exhausting, so I decided the best thing to do was to get a cup of fresh coffee and go for a walk.

I needed a break and went outside.

Underneath the calming blue sky, seeing the branches of the pine and maple trees swaying in a slight breeze, reinvigorated my spirit. I smelled the freshly-cut grass from the neighbor’s lawn, which emphasizes we are in the middle of summer.

OK, I am once again at the keyboard.

Let’s get back to the quantum stuff.

A new network for the quantum internet is estimated to take nearly 10 years to complete; however, serious work on building it has already begun.

“The Department of Energy is proud to play an instrumental role in the development of the national quantum internet,” said US Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette.

The Argonne National Laboratory, in Lemont, IL, is the location of one of the core quantum internet hubs.

Along with the University of Chicago, they completed an experimental 52-mile quantum entanglement within the Chicago suburbs. The Chicago hub is acting as a blueprint for building a nationwide quantum internet network.

“It’s the birth of a new technology. Every major country on Earth has launched a quantum program, because it is becoming clearer and clearer there will be big impacts,” said David Awschalom, a professor at the University of Chicago’s Argonne National Laboratory.

Stony Brook University, and Brookhaven National Laboratory are also making advancements in quantum networking and related technologies.

They have established an 80-mile quantum network testbed and are expanding it in New York State, and at Oak Ridge and Los Alamos National Laboratories.

A nationwide quantum internet network requires four objectives: verify secure quantum protocols over existing fiber networks, successfully send entangled quantum information across campuses or cities, expand the quantum internet network backbone between towns, and build out the quantum internet network between more states, using “quantum repeaters” for amplifying the network protocol signals.

Public applications over a quantum internet will include secured individual healthcare data, financial and banking data, telecommunications, and video transmissions.

I wonder if we will be using Twitter over a quantum internet.

The 2021 federal budget of the US government contains $718 million for the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and $25 million supports continuing research on a quantum internet.

More information on the quantum internet is on the US Department of Energy’s webpage at https://bit.ly/2OTYOhK.

“A Strategic Vision For America’s Quantum Networks,” released this year by the White House, can be read at https://bit.ly/2ByWlGe.

Like Dr. Sam Beckett, we may soon find ourselves taking a “Quantum Leap.”

Oh, boy.

Stay safe out there.

Depiction of the Quantum Internet

Software remaining robust and functional for a century

© Mark Ollig

The operation and reliability of military software systems and their data content are essential in maintaining our national security.

Imagine today’s software seamlessly working with future operating system platforms, processors, physical components, programming applications, and data storage devices.

DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Project Agency) is an advanced-technology branch of the US Department of Defense.

A major program to improve the resilience and longevity of complex software systems has been underway for some time now.

The program involves building a long-lived, survivable, and scalable, adaptive software system that will operate for a lengthened time.

DARPA was assigned the task of coming up with the computational and algorithmic requirements to ensure the military’s existing software will work with new advanced technologies for an extended period of 100 years.

That’s right, folks.

Think of the software program contained on a 1981 5.25-inch floppy disk we used on an IBM personal DOS (Disk Operating System) computer being able to work on a computing system platform in 2081.

However, guaranteeing existing software applications will perform at optimal functionality on devices and technologies across multiple software and hardware platforms over one century is a daunting challenge.

One would think that 50 years from now, quantum computing will be commonplace; however, by 2120, another technology will likely have taken its place.

In response to this monumental challenge, DARPA began a program called The Building Resource Adaptive Software Systems, or BRASS.

BRASS is researching methods of how existing software can adapt and modify itself to future technology advances.

What is needed are software operating systems continually adapting to future technology changes to work correctly for the original software.

Considerable time and financial costs are currently required to keep the US military software and their network platforms updated.

This year, the US Military budget is $722B. DARPA’s portion is $3.56 billion, of which $10 million is for BRASS.

“The goal of the [BRASS] is to realize foundational advances in the design and implementation of long-lived, survivable and complex software systems that are robust to changes in the physical and logical resources provided by their ecosystem,” described DARPA on its BRASS webpage.

“Ensuring applications continue to function correctly and efficiently in the face of a changing operational environment is a formidable challenge,” said Suresh Jagannathan, a DARPA program manager, who works in the Purdue University Computer Science department.

The research and development challenges will be enormous for implementing such a revolutionary software platform.

DARPA is working with Raytheon BBN Technologies on BRASS.

Raytheon BBN Technologies, located in Massachusetts, is an aerospace and defense company that employs 195,000 people, holds 40,000 patents, and has annual sales of $74B.

The interactive BRASS software network design will learn how to modify itself as it operates and adapts existing software with any new software programs and hardware devices it encounters.

I know of no existing experimental systems running government (or any other) software applications that will adapt and operate over future computing ecosystem networks for the next 100 years. Of course, if there were, it would no doubt be classified.

DARPA provided an artist’s concept image of what this 100-year software system might look like, as it adapts to resource changes: https://bit.ly/2OHnDx8.

We are all witnessing the rapid speed at which technology is advancing; what seemed like magic years ago, has become a reality.

Eventually, will our software and data operate and remain “robust and functional” over an adaptable software platform network within a 100-year lifespan?

Stay tuned.

Please be safe out there.

Source: https://www.darpa.mil

Internet statistics midway through 2020

© Mark Ollig

We find ourselves halfway through a year none of us will ever forget.

The latest statistics confirm the world’s dependency on the internet is significantly increasing.

Since March, the internet has provided the means for many of us to work from home, have telehealth visits, and stay connected with family and friends.

Some of us do weekly grocery shopping online, drive to the store, and have our items brought out to our car.

Students, who at the beginning of the year took classes in a brick-and-mortar school, participated in their courses online.

Currently, the world’s population is approximately 7.8 billion people.

Nearly 4.8 billion people on the planet have access to and regularly use the internet. The top numbers and locations are as follows:

1. Asia – 2.4 billion.

2. Europe – 768 million.

3. Africa – 552 million.

4. Latin America – 480 million.

5. North America – 345 million.

6. The Middle East – 187 million.

7. Australia – 288 thousand.

China has the highest number of internet users at 854 million, while the number of internet users in the United States is 313 million.

Of North Korea’s 25.5 million people making up its general population, those having access to the internet is zero.

As of April, 3.81 billion people living on the planet are active in using online social media networks, like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Snapchat, and Pinterest.

WordPress.com is a favorite resource used to build and host websites on the internet. The current number of websites using WordPress is 455 million.

There are about 1.7 billion websites on the internet, and nearly 60 percent use HTTPS (HyperText Transport Protocol Secure) internet application protocol for security.

The top common languages and their percentages used on the internet are:

1. English – 25.9 percent.

2. Chinese – 19.4 percent.

3. Spanish – 7.9 percent.

4. Arabic – 5.2 percent.

5. Indonesian/Malaysian – 4.3 percent.

6. Portuguese – 3.7 percent.

7. French – 3.3 percent.

8. Japanese – 2.6 percent.

9. Russian – 2.5 percent.

10. German 2 percent.

The ranking of ages and their percentage of US internet users are:

1. 18 to 29 – 100 percent.

2. 30 to 49 – 97 percent.

3. 50 to 64 – 88 percent.

4. Over 65 – 73 percent.

Accessing the internet is accomplished more with smartphones than with desk and laptop computers.

Each day, smartphone users spend nearly four hours using a mobile internet connection for apps or researching information.

Speaking of apps, the following app stores list their number of apps available for mobile users to download:

1. Google Play Store – 2.6 million.

2. Apple App Store – 1.8 million.

3. Windows Store – 670 thousand.

4. Amazon Appstore – 490 thousand.

As of April, here are the number of users on the most popular social networks:

1. Facebook – 2.6 billion.

2. YouTube – 1.8 billion.

3. Facebook Messenger – 1.3 billion.

4. WhatsApp – 2 billion.

5. Sina Weibo – 500 million.

6. Reddit and Twitter – 330 million.

7. Pinterest – 320 million.

8. Snapchat – 229 million.

Imagine what our lives would have been like if the Coronavirus/COVID-19 had occurred during the 1970s.

Back then, the technology, hardware, software, and a network for online schooling and working from home did not yet exist.

Today, the internet, along with advanced technology, has become the core pillar of connecting billions of us throughout the world, whether in our office, school, or at home.

Stay safe out there.

(ClipArt image Right-to-Use
paid by me!)

Chess Grandmaster versus Turochamp

© Mark Ollig

British mathematician and cryptologist Alan Turing broke the encryption coding method created by Enigma machines the German military used to transmit secret messages during World War II.

Turing worked with three other senior code-breakers within a top-secret intelligence group known as Ultra.

Together, they built a cabinet-sized electromechanical device “bombe” or code-cracking machine.

Fully operational in 1942, Turing’s decrypting machine decoded nearly 39,000 messages per month containing German military communications within hours of their being transmitted.

Japanese military messages were also decoded.

It is stated Ultra greatly assisted in bringing an end to WWII.

“It was thanks to Ultra that we won the war,” British Prime Minister Winston Churchill reportedly said.

Western Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhowever disclosed in a 1965 interview that Ultra was “decisive” in winning the war.

Turing was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his code-breaking work.

In 1948, Turing authored a paper titled “Intelligent Machinery.”

In this paper, Turing explained how to design a “thinking machine,” by building a robot that would mimic a human and “roam the countryside” to educate itself.

He was describing how to design artificial intelligence in a machine that could learn from its own experiences.

In the late 1940s, Turing, along with David Champernowne, studied mathematics at King’s College, Cambridge, UK.

In 1948, while researching machine learning, Turing and Champernowne developed a chess program capable of playing against a human, to demonstrate how a machine could think.

They named this chess program Turochamp, a combination of Turing and Champernowne.

Turing received most of the credit for this chess-playing algorithmic program, whose lines of code were written using a pencil and paper.

Turochamp could “think” two moves in advance, using logical searching decision trees to make the best chess moves.

“Our general conclusion was that a computer should be fairly easy to program to play a game of chess against a beginner, and stand a fair chance of winning or least reaching a winning position,” Champernowne was quoted as saying years later.

When the Turochamp program was written, the type of computer needed to fully execute it did not yet exist.

In 1950, Turing authored the essay, “Computing Machinery and Intelligence,” in which he proposed the question: “Can machines think?”

Turing said this question needed to be asked, due to the development of electronic and digital computers.

He went on to cite examples of deductive reasoning from which a machine could come to logical conclusions.

During 1950, Turing had begun coding the Turochamp program into a Ferranti Mark 1 computer, also known as the Manchester University Computer (MUC).

A Dec. 6, 1951 article in the Cobram Courier, an Australian newspaper, said, “A transatlantic chess match between two giant robot “brains” is being planned. When Dr. Alan Turing has tuned it up, MUC should be able to think several moves ahead.”

The transatlantic computer chess opponent was to be an American computer nicknamed Prinny, built at Princeton University in New Jersey, where Turing spent two academic years, from 1936 to 1938.

Unfortunately, the coded instruction transfers of Turochamp’s algorithms into the MUC had not been finished at the time of Turing’s death in 1954.

During the June 23, 2012 celebration of Turing’s 100th birthday observance at the Alan Turing Centenary Conference in Manchester, UK, the 1948 computer chess program, Turochamp, was loaded into a modern-day computer.

Chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov agreed to play against Turochamp.

This columnist enjoys a competitive chess game every now and then. So, I was very interested in seeing how the logical chess-playing computations created in 1948 would fare in a match against a champion chess player like Kasparov.

Kasparov appeared eager to play the program, as he quickly sat down at the table to begin the chess game.

A large screen displayed to the audience the chess game moves as they occurred in real-time.

Turochamp opened the game playing the white chess pieces with the queen’s pawn, or e3 chess opening.

Turing’s chess program was playing very well; until Kasparov took control of the game.

Kasparov swiftly moved his chess pieces in a precise, calculating manner. He took only seconds in-between moves and methodically overpowered Turochamp’s defenses.

“I’m sorry!” Kasparov smilingly said while capturing the white chess pieces.

He then quickly closed in for the win with his queen and knight, checkmating Turochamp’s king in only 16 moves.

Kasparov is known for calculating chess game scenarios 10 moves in advance, and so the win was not unexpected.

After the game, Kasparov complimented Turing and Champernowne’s chess program by saying, “Although it’s only thinking two moves ahead, I thought it would give the amateur player some serious problems.”

Kasparov went on to say, “It was an outstanding accomplishment. Alan Turing is one of the very few people about who you could say that if he had lived longer, the world would be a different place.”

Alan Mathison Turing died June 7, 1954, at age 41.

David Gawen Champernowne passed away Aug. 19, 2000, at the age of 88.

Watch the video of Garry Kasparov playing against the Turochamp chess program at https://tinyurl.com/ycfmzans.

Stay safe out there.

Enigma Machine

Behind (back plane) of the rebuilt Turing Bombe code breaker

                   Rebuilt Turing Bombe code breaker

Stone statue of Alan Turing with his code breaker

Stone statue of Alan Turing with his code breaker

Turochamp opens with the White Pawn

Checkmate!
Kasporov's Black queen mates's Turochamp's White King.

Fourth of July US patents and the Seaview

© Mark Ollig

I was surprised to learn many technology-related US patents were approved on the Fourth of July.

“Aerial for Wireless Signaling” is the title of US Patent 793,651, issued July 4, 1905, to Reginald Aessenden.

Aessenden described his patent’s benefits related to “certain improvements in aerials for transmission and [reception] of electromagnetic waves over long distances.”

The triangular arrangement of supporting antenna guy wires and porcelain elements was described in Aessenden’s patent.

“Vending-machine” is the title of US Patent 1,189,954, granted July 4, 1914.

Its inventor, Alonzo Jacobs, said his machine “ . . . comprises a suitable base whose upper portion is formed into a tray compartment, this compartment containing a circular chambered delivery tray similar to the well-known dropping-plate employed in seed-planting machinery.”

The next time you use a vending machine and watch your product drop down into the delivering tray, you can thank Alonzo Jacobs.

Although not issued July 4, I found a patent with a Minnesota connection appropriate for the Fourth of July summer vacations spent here in “the land of 10,000 lakes.”

For the record, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reports 11,842 lakes.

US Patent 2,854,787 issued Oct. 7, 1958, is for a self-propelled toy fish, invented by Paul E. Oberg, from Falcon Heights.

“This invention relates to a novel device for propelling and steering a buoyant object in a liquid medium. More particularly, the invention is concerned with means for propelling toy aquatic creatures,” Oberg described.

A patent for another aquatic creature was approved July 4.

US Patent 2,990,645, titled “Toy Whale,” was issued July 4, 1961, for an electrically powered, self-propelled toy whale.

Dean A. Polzin invented an animated toy whale having the ability “to move through the water and to alternately dive and surface while moving through the water,” as he described in his patent.

In addition to a battery motor inside the toy whale’s hollow body, a hand-crank can be used to wind tension cords for energy to propel the toy whale under and over the water.

Spring-actuated counterbalancing methods are used inside the whale for stability as it traverses the water.

Polzin also included a small hole on the top of the toy whale that shoots water as it rises to the surface, simulating a real whale’s spouting action.

US Patent 1,271,272, titled “Toy Submarine,” was granted two days before the Fourth of July to Joel W. Bunkley, July 2, 1918.

Speaking of toy submarines, during the mid-1960s, one of my favorite toys was the submarine from the TV series “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.”

It was the Seaview toy model submarine made by Remco.

The Seaview model is a 17-inch-long, yellow plastic submarine looking a lot like the model used in the TV series except for the color, which in the series was a darker shade of gray with a slight greenish tint.

At around 8 or 9 years old, I spent the weekend at my grandmother’s vacation home on Lake Minnie-Belle, near Litchfield.

It was a Friday afternoon, and I had brought along my Seaview model and looked forward to seeing it in a real body of water instead of the bathtub.

The next day, carrying the Seaview, I walked out from shore and stood waist-deep in Lake Minnie-Belle.

I envisioned being in the Pacific Ocean, where the television series’ Seaview was seen each week leaving port from Santa Barbara, CA.

The Seaview toy model is not nuclear-powered as shown on the TV show; instead, it uses a much simpler and nonradioactive “elastic motor propulsion.”

I needed to wind up the rubber-band located inside the submarine (using a blue plastic crank handle on the front of the sub) to create the energy to power its propeller.

After carefully placing my fully-charged Seaview submarine on the water’s surface, I was thrilled to see it begin traveling on the lake as the television series’ model did.

More than 50 years later, I still remember watching my Seaview submarine cruising on Lake Minnie-Belle. I also recall my grandmother smiling as she watched the submarine’s journey across the water.

President George Washington signed The Patent Act of 1790, April 10, 1790.

This Act brought about the modern American patent system giving rights to inventors.

From 1790 through 1836, patents did not have a specific number assigned, just its name and issue date.

Samuel Hopkins was issued the first US patent July 13, 1790, to make potash, an ingredient used in fertilizer.

President George Washington signed Hopkins patent.

I learned George Washington and Thomas Jefferson personally signed many early US patents.

In December 1836, a fire destroyed an estimated 9,957 US Patent paper descriptions and drawings in storage.

The irony here is the patents were in temporary storage while a new fireproof structure was being built.

Using original patent copies in possession by its inventor or family members, replacement patents were made and reassigned with an “X” preceding a number.

A total of 2,847 patents were replaced.

A new US patent numbering system began July 13, 1836.

US Patent No. 1 was issued to John Ruggles for his “Traction Wheels” device used on locomotive engine wheels to reduce their sliding, which lessons the deterioration of train tracks.

As of January, the US Patent and Trademark Office reports more than 10,525,000 US patents have been issued since 1836.

In 2019, 333,530 patents were granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Stay safe out there.

US Patent 1,271,272, titled “Toy Submarine”
Joel W. Bunkley, July 2, 1918

US Patent No. 1  “Traction Wheels”
John Ruggles, July 13, 1836

The Seaview from the television series
"Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea"

The Seaview model I had in the mid-1960s