DRM-ETP: A Dynamic Rate Matching-Based Entanglement Transport Protocol in Quantum Networks

The entanglement transport protocol with a connection-oriented mode ensures the reliable distribution of remote entanglement by reserving dedicated resources on the selected path for users in a quantum network. In most existing protocols, entanglement generation and resource allocation operate with the support of global network-synchronized time slot. However, such synchronization in a large-scale quantum network is challenging, and the idealized time slot model is not conducive to continuous and concurrent requests. Meanwhile, different link performance in memory capacity and entanglement generation rate brings out critical issues, such as long distribution delay and low resource utilization, which has not been adequately addressed by the existing protocols relying on a heuristic adoption of TCP-like transport modes. In light of these observations, we propose a dynamic rate matching-based entanglement transport protocol called DRM-ETP, which allocates different memory units on each link along an entanglement distribution path. Moreover, DRM-ETP incorporates periodic forward and backward interactions to implement fine-grained feedback and a dynamic memory allocation based on priority differentiation. These mechanisms mitigate congestion and unfairness arising from resource contention among burst requests on shared links. Extensive simulation results demonstrate that DRM-ETP significantly outperforms the existing protocols in terms of throughput and resource utilization, with less distribution delay and higher fidelity. Moreover, DRM-ETP exhibits rapid and fair convergence when handling burst requests. Our study opens up possibilities for deploying efficient entanglement transport in quantum networks, thereby holding the promise of enhanced compatibility and novel functionality.