Entanglement-Reusable Dynamic Routing for Quantum Networks

As a novel form of network structure, quantum networks can be considered nodes equipped with limited quantum memory units connected via lossy optical links. To fully unleash the potentials of quantum networks in applications such as distributed quantum computing, quantum key distribution, etc., an efficient quantum routing mechanism is vital for discovering multiple path solutions that deliver overall higher communication opportunities. Existing quantum routing algorithms focus on the “contention-free” strategy, which may result in restricted throughput gains. In this paper, we propose a novel metric called reusable factor to evaluate the probability that the reserved quantum resources for a candidate path can still offer available channels for other potential available paths even after path assignments. Further, a new Entanglement-Reusable Dynamic Routing Algorithm (ERDRA) is proposed to enable the multiple assignment of quantum entanglement. Simulation results demonstrate that Erdra achieves solid performance gains over state-of-the-art algorithms under various network settings.