A Case for Multi-Programming Quantum Computers

TLDR

Current quantum computers suffer from high error rates, limiting reliable execution to few‑qubit programs and leaving resources underutilized in the NISQ model. The paper aims to improve throughput and utilization of NISQ machines by enabling concurrent execution of multiple workloads. This is achieved by employing multi‑programming to allow the NISQ machine to run multiple workloads simultaneously.

Abstract

Existing and near-term quantum computers face significant reliability challenges because of high error rates caused by noise. Such machines are operated in the Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) model of computing. As NISQ machines exhibit high error-rates, only programs that require a few qubits can be executed reliably. Therefore, NISQ machines tend to underutilize its resources. In this paper, we propose to improve the throughput and utilization of NISQ machines by using multi-programming and enabling the NISQ machine to concurrently execute multiple workloads.