Overview
- Cisco introduced the two research prototypes on Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 6–7, 2026, offering an updated Network-Aware Quantum Compiler as a free 30-day trial while keeping the Quantum Network Controller in research-only form.
- The Controller is a control plane that lets an application request entanglement by naming endpoints, rate, fidelity, and timing and then schedules and holds the link for the job without inspecting the quantum state.
- A hardware abstraction layer lets sources, switches, detectors, and timing systems from different vendors plug into the Controller so the same network software can operate mixed hardware uniformly.
- Cisco points to a February 2026 multi-node test over 17.6 km of commercial fiber in New York City that achieved greater than 99% polarization fidelity as evidence that software can coordinate vendor hardware on live fiber.
- Cisco is inviting partners to help mature the Controller for production use because key hurdles remain, including precise distributed timing, error rates, and real-world operator integration that will determine whether Entanglement-as-a-Service scales beyond research trials.