Toward a Quantum-Native Internet from Architecture to Protocol Organization

Quantum entanglement is the key network resource of the Quantum Internet, challenging several design principles that underpin the classical Internet. This talk discusses emerging “quantum-native” tenets spanning architecture and protocol organization: control/data-plane separation tailored to entanglement orchestration, quantum-aware addressing and routing, and a protocol-organization approach that moves beyond rigid layering toward context-driven composition and in-band control. To keep the discussion grounded, the talk also touches on how these ideas can be explored at scale using an extensible co-simulation framework, Q2NS, which integrates quantum primitives with the established classical networking stack.

Angela Sara Cacciapuoti

Angela Sara Cacciapuoti is Full Professor of Quantum Communications and Networks at the University of Naples Federico II (Italy) and a co-founder of the Quantum Internet Research Group (quantuminternet.it). She is the recipient of the ERC Consolidator Grant “QNattyNet" (qnattynet.quantuminternet.it), which aims to lay the foundations of a truly quantum-native Internet. Her research contributions span the theoretical and architectural foundations of quantum networking, and she has received multiple honors recognizing pioneering work in the field. She was a featured author on the IEEE Xplore website and has served as an IEEE ComSoc Distinguished Lecturer, delivering invited talks worldwide on the Quantum Internet design. She currently serves on the IEEE Signal Processing Society Technical Committee on SPCOM. She is an Area Editor for IEEE Transactions on Communications and a Senior Editor for the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications (JSAC) – Quantum Series, and she serves on the editorial boards of npj Quantum Information, IEEE Transactions on Quantum Engineering, and IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials. She was named among the Italian InspiringFifty 2024 and received the “WE Award – Women Excellence 2024” by Il Sole 24 Ore in collaboration with the Financial Times.