48 research outputs found
Randomizer for High Data Rates
NASA as well as a number of other space agencies now recognize that the current recommended CCSDS randomizer used for telemetry (TM) is too short. When multiple applications of the PN8 Maximal Length Sequence (MLS) are required in order to fully cover a channel access data unit (CADU), spectral problems in the form of elevated spurious discretes (spurs) appear. Originally the randomizer was called a bit transition generator (BTG) precisely because it was thought that its primary value was to insure sufficient bit transitions to allow the bit/symbol synchronizer to lock and remain locked. We, NASA, have shown that the old BTG concept is a limited view of the real value of the randomizer sequence and that the randomizer also aids in signal acquisition as well as minimizing the potential for false decoder lock. Under the guidelines we considered here there are multiple maximal length sequences under GF(2) which appear attractive in this application. Although there may be mitigating reasons why another MLS sequence could be selected, one sequence in particular possesses a combination of desired properties which offsets it from the others
Compressed sensing quantum process tomography for superconducting quantum gates
We apply the method of compressed sensing (CS) quantum process tomography
(QPT) to characterize quantum gates based on superconducting Xmon and phase
qubits. Using experimental data for a two-qubit controlled-Z gate, we obtain an
estimate for the process matrix with reasonably high fidelity compared
to full QPT, but using a significantly reduced set of initial states and
measurement configurations. We show that the CS method still works when the
amount of used data is so small that the standard QPT would have an
underdetermined system of equations. We also apply the CS method to the
analysis of the three-qubit Toffoli gate with numerically added noise, and
similarly show that the method works well for a substantially reduced set of
data. For the CS calculations we use two different bases in which the process
matrix is approximately sparse, and show that the resulting estimates of
the process matrices match each ther with reasonably high fidelity. For both
two-qubit and three-qubit gates, we characterize the quantum process by not
only its process matrix and fidelity, but also by the corresponding standard
deviation, defined via variation of the state fidelity for different initial
states.Comment: 16 pages, 11 figure
Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) - Optimizing X-Band Usage
The NASA version of the low-density parity check (LDPC) 7/8-rate code, shortened to the dimensions of (8160, 7136), has been implemented as the forward error correction (FEC) schema for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM). This is the first flight application of this code. In order to place a 440 Msps link within the 375 MHz wide X band we found it necessary to heavily bandpass filter the satellite transmitter output . Despite the significant amplitude and phase distortions that accompanied the spectral truncation, the mission required BER is maintained at < 10(exp -12) with less than 2 dB of implementation loss. We utilized a band-pass filter designed ostensibly to replicate the link distortions to demonstrate link design viability. The same filter was then used to optimize the adaptive equalizer in the receiver employed at the terminus of the downlink. The excellent results we obtained could be directly attributed to the implementation of the LDPC code and the amplitude and phase compensation provided in the receiver. Similar results were obtained with receivers from several vendors
End-to-end communication test on variable length packet structures utilizing AOS testbed
This paper describes a communication test, which successfully demonstrated the transfer of losslessly compressed images in an end-to-end system. These compressed images were first formatted into variable length Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) packets in the Advanced Orbiting System Testbed (AOST). The CCSDS data Structures were transferred from the AOST to the Radio Frequency Simulations Operations Center (RFSOC), via a fiber optic link, where data was then transmitted through the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS). The received data acquired at the White Sands Complex (WSC) was transferred back to the AOST where the data was captured and decompressed back to the original images. This paper describes the compression algorithm, the AOST configuration, key flight components, data formats, and the communication link characteristics and test results
Spectral signatures of many-body localization with interacting photons
Statistical mechanics is founded on the assumption that a system can reach
thermal equilibrium, regardless of the starting state. Interactions between
particles facilitate thermalization, but, can interacting systems always
equilibrate regardless of parameter values\,? The energy spectrum of a system
can answer this question and reveal the nature of the underlying phases.
However, most experimental techniques only indirectly probe the many-body
energy spectrum. Using a chain of nine superconducting qubits, we implement a
novel technique for directly resolving the energy levels of interacting
photons. We benchmark this method by capturing the intricate energy spectrum
predicted for 2D electrons in a magnetic field, the Hofstadter butterfly. By
increasing disorder, the spatial extent of energy eigenstates at the edge of
the energy band shrink, suggesting the formation of a mobility edge. At strong
disorder, the energy levels cease to repel one another and their statistics
approaches a Poisson distribution - the hallmark of transition from the
thermalized to the many-body localized phase. Our work introduces a new
many-body spectroscopy technique to study quantum phases of matter
Removing leakage-induced correlated errors in superconducting quantum error correction
Quantum computing can become scalable through error correction, but logical
error rates only decrease with system size when physical errors are
sufficiently uncorrelated. During computation, unused high energy levels of the
qubits can become excited, creating leakage states that are long-lived and
mobile. Particularly for superconducting transmon qubits, this leakage opens a
path to errors that are correlated in space and time. Here, we report a reset
protocol that returns a qubit to the ground state from all relevant higher
level states. We test its performance with the bit-flip stabilizer code, a
simplified version of the surface code for quantum error correction. We
investigate the accumulation and dynamics of leakage during error correction.
Using this protocol, we find lower rates of logical errors and an improved
scaling and stability of error suppression with increasing qubit number. This
demonstration provides a key step on the path towards scalable quantum
computing
Resolving catastrophic error bursts from cosmic rays in large arrays of superconducting qubits
Scalable quantum computing can become a reality with error correction,
provided coherent qubits can be constructed in large arrays. The key premise is
that physical errors can remain both small and sufficiently uncorrelated as
devices scale, so that logical error rates can be exponentially suppressed.
However, energetic impacts from cosmic rays and latent radioactivity violate
both of these assumptions. An impinging particle ionizes the substrate,
radiating high energy phonons that induce a burst of quasiparticles, destroying
qubit coherence throughout the device. High-energy radiation has been
identified as a source of error in pilot superconducting quantum devices, but
lacking a measurement technique able to resolve a single event in detail, the
effect on large scale algorithms and error correction in particular remains an
open question. Elucidating the physics involved requires operating large
numbers of qubits at the same rapid timescales as in error correction, exposing
the event's evolution in time and spread in space. Here, we directly observe
high-energy rays impacting a large-scale quantum processor. We introduce a
rapid space and time-multiplexed measurement method and identify large bursts
of quasiparticles that simultaneously and severely limit the energy coherence
of all qubits, causing chip-wide failure. We track the events from their
initial localised impact to high error rates across the chip. Our results
provide direct insights into the scale and dynamics of these damaging error
bursts in large-scale devices, and highlight the necessity of mitigation to
enable quantum computing to scale