Quantify received a new feature update last month with the introduction of near-term signals. The new functionality enables continuous-wave (CW) and DC measurements, such as VNA frequency sweeps and bias control, to be executed directly within Quantify. This expands hardware support, simplifies experiment setup, and provides a unified workflow for both pulsed and non-pulsed measurements.
The ScheduleGettable pipeline. The Schedule and CW kwargs inputs (left) are compiled into a single CompiledSchedule: its compiled_instructions field holds the compiled waveform program when schedule_function/schedule_kwargs are given, and its compiled_settings field (a CompiledSettings) holds the evaluated cw_kwargs parameter dict when it is given (either field is empty if its corresponding argument is omitted). The InstrumentCoordinator dispatches each field to the matching per-instrument component (ICC) and its Driver.
About near-term signals
Near-term signals are continuous-wave (CW) or DC signals that are configured directly on an instrument rather than executed as part of a timed pulse sequence. Instead of generating a compiled waveform program, the instrument is set with a fixed configuration, such as a frequency sweep range or a bias level, that remains active for the duration of the experiment.
Because there is no sequence of timed pulses or gates, there is nothing for the timed-schedule compiler to schedule, a single static configuration cannot be expressed as a waveform program, so near-term signals bypass the timed-schedule compilation pipeline entirely. They are, however, still coordinated through the same InstrumentCoordinator and ScheduleGettable interface as pulsed experiments.
Typical use cases include:
- A vector network analyser (VNA) performing a frequency sweep.
- A DC source providing a fixed bias voltage during an experiment.
- Instruments whose configuration can be defined through a simple parameter dictionary rather than a compiled waveform sequence.
More information is available in the Quantify documentation: Near-term signals documentation
About Quantify
Quantify is an open-source, Python-based data acquisition framework for quantum computing and solid-state physics experiments. Developed together with a growing international community of scientists and engineers, it is built on top of QCoDeS for instrument control and management.
The framework enables researchers to configure experiments, acquire and analyse data, and integrate a wide range of hardware through a flexible and hardware-agnostic workflow. More information is available on the Quantify website.
Quantify is an open-source framework used within the OrangeQS Juice operating system to support OrangeQS Suite applications.
