Quantum annealing with special drivers for circuit fault diagnostics

Area of Science:

• Quantum Computing
• Computer Engineering
• Fault Diagnosis

Background:

• Combinational Circuit Fault Diagnosis is critical for reliable electronics.
• Existing classical methods, like brute-force search, struggle with large-scale circuits.
• Quantum annealing offers a potential alternative for complex diagnostic problems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a general quantum annealing protocol for Combinational Circuit Fault Diagnosis.
• To restrict quantum evolution to valid diagnostic states.
• To enhance the performance of quantum annealing for this specific problem.

Main Methods:

• Developed a novel quantum annealing construction using special local drivers.
• Ensured the transition graph on feasible configurations is regular and instance-independent.
• Analyzed energy gap behavior and identified optimal annealing schedules.
• Performed closed-system simulations to benchmark performance.

Main Results:

• The energy gap exhibits a generic form, with the minimum occurring late in the annealing evolution.
• Degeneracy positively impacts quantum annealing performance, particularly for diagnoses with more faults.
• The proposed protocol demonstrates superior performance compared to classical brute-force approaches.

Conclusions:

• The developed quantum annealing protocol effectively addresses Combinational Circuit Fault Diagnosis.
• Degeneracy is a beneficial factor for quantum annealing in fault diagnosis scenarios.
• This quantum approach shows promise for diagnosing large-scale circuits more efficiently than classical methods.