QuSide, a start-up in Barcelona, Spain, that works in the area of quantum random number generation, unveiled its new quantum entropy source chip, the QN 100, to provide customers with access to enhanced randomness capabilities for the on-going transition to quantum-safe cybersecurity and efficient randomized accelerated computation.
Quantum random number generators are on the way to becoming a huge market segment, one that could be worth $7.2 billion by 2026, according to a recent report from IQT Research. In addition to QuSide, companies like ID Quantique, Quantinuum, Toshiba Europe, Crypta Labs and many others.
The QN 100, which QuSide said is being made by a pure-play foundry to ensure reliable and scalable production, can support the generation of more than 1 Gbps of random digits. It will be the basis for new QuSide products to be released in 2022 in a variety of form factors and with increased performance in mind. The products will not only focus on cybersecurity offerings, but also on their new compute acceleration offerings for randomized workloads for optimization, simulation, and prediction, in markets such as finance, insurance, science, energy and pharma, QuSide said.
To date, QuSide’s highest-profile move in the market has been a partnership forged with Spanish telecom giant Telefonica last year to integrate quantum random number generation into Telefonica’s virtual data center cloud service.
QuSide said entropy sources such as the QN 100 “are fundamental for the generation of random numbers, which in turn are central for all cybersecurity protocols. If random numbers are not unpredictable, then no truly safe security can be achieved.” The company sees 2022 as a key year for demand for high-quality random numbers as new post-quantum encryption and authentication standards are expected to be published, along with more large-scale investments in quantum communication infrastructures.
Quside was a spin-off of the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Barcelona. The firm late last year received some new funding from the Catalan Department of Business and Labor in its home region.