Distributing quantum information between remote systems will necessitate the integration of emerging quantum components with existing communication infrastructure. This requires understanding the channel-induced degradations of the transmitted quantum signals, beyond the typical characterization methods for classical communication systems. Here we report on a comprehensive characterization of a Boston-Area Quantum Network (BARQNET) telecom fiber testbed, measuring the time-of-flight, polarization, and phase noise imparted on transmitted signals. We further design and demonstrate a compensation system that is both resilient to these noise sources and compatible with integration of emerging quantum memory components on the deployed link. These results have utility for future work on the BARQNET as well as other quantum network testbeds in development, enabling near-term quantum networking demonstrations and informing what areas of technology development will be most impactful in advancing future system capabilities.

翻译：在远程系统间传输量子信息需要将新兴量子组件与现有通信基础设施相结合。这要求理解传输量子信号的信道退化效应，其复杂度远超经典通信系统的典型表征方法。本文报告了对波士顿地区量子网络（BARQNET）电信光纤测试平台的全面表征，测量了传输信号的飞行时间、偏振态及相位噪声。我们进一步设计并验证了一种补偿系统，该系统既能抵抗这些噪声源，又与所部署链路上新兴量子存储器件的集成兼容。这些成果不仅为BARQNET未来的研究工作提供支撑，也为其他正在开发的量子网络测试平台提供参考，有助于实现近期量子网络演示，并明确哪些技术领域的发展将对提升未来系统能力最具影响力。