The official release of Q2NS on the ns-3 App Store marks an important milestone for the project, making the simulator more accessible to the broader networking and Quantum Internet research communities through the official ecosystem of ns-3 extensions and research modules.
Built on top of ns-3, Q2NS is a modular and inherently extensible simulation framework for quantum networks, designed to integrate quantum-network primitives within ns-3’s classical discrete-event simulation environment. Its architecture enables flexible experimentation across heterogeneous quantum networking scenarios while maintaining compatibility with existing ns-3 workflows and tools.
As described in our recent work, Q2NS adopts a quantum-native architectural approach that separates network control from in-network operation execution. Through components such as NetController and QNode, researchers can rapidly prototype, test, and adapt quantum networking protocols while preserving a clear distinction between protocol logic and low-level node or channel operations.
The framework also supports multiple interchangeable quantum-state representations through a unified plug-in interface, including state-vector, density-matrix, and stabilizer backends. Alongside the simulator, the repository includes Q2NSViz, a lightweight visualization companion that jointly renders physical and entanglement connectivity graphs, enabling intuitive inspection of protocol behavior and entanglement dynamics.
By joining the ns-3 App Store, Q2NS becomes easier to discover, install, and integrate into existing simulation environments, supporting reproducible research and fostering collaboration between classical networking and quantum communication communities.
You can explore the project here:
Q2NS on the ns-3 App Store
And read more about the simulator on our research section:
Q2NS – An Extensible Quantum Network Simulator Built on ns-3
