A Dynamic-Kernel/QPacket Executable for Quantum Repeater Chains in Q2NS/ns-3

Abstract:The Quantum Internet operates on entanglement, a non-local, non-copyable, stateful network resource, which motivates protocol organization beyond classical layering. We present a first executable specialization of the Dynamic Kernel/QPacket logic from the beyond-layering protocol suite, targeting entanglement distribution over a linear quantum repeater chain. The implementation builds on Q2NS, an ns-3-based quantum-network simulation module available through the ns-3 App Store. It realizes QPacket meta-headers with service intent and append-only action-commit stamps processed by node-local Dynamic Kernels organized as a Planner--Executor--Engine pipeline, while being deliberately scoped to an analytically verifiable service and policy. Within this scoped setting, we study node heterogeneity through a link-preparation policy that accounts for pre-distributed entanglement and uneven entanglement-generation support across nodes, including delegation via QPacket forwarding. Simulations verify analytical link-resolvability models and expose signaling load, forwarding behavior, and QPacket meta-header growth. Results show that QPacket overhead is shaped by more than just encoding, including policy choices and available network resources. Overall, this study demonstrates how the Q2NS/ns-3 substrate can support reproducible, policy-specific evaluation of quantum-native protocol-suite concepts.

Accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the 2026 International Conference on ns-3 (ICNS3 2026), Naples, Italy, October 19-21, 2026. 9 pages

Quantum Physics (quant-ph); Networking and Internet Architecture (cs.NI)

arXiv:2608.24152 [quant-ph]

(or arXiv:2608.24152v1 [quant-ph] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2608.24152 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

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