The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is seeking proposals for a potential $58 million program aimed at developing hybrid systems for the Department of Defense to overcome optimization problems that could affect mission capabilities.
The Quantum-Inspired Classical Computing (QuICC) effort seeks to integrate analog hardware with digital logic processes to create QI solvers for dynamic system emulation, DARPA said Monday.
Participants in the QuICC program will aim to address technical obstacles, such as restricted inter-system connectivity and prohibitive digital resource growth, that prevent the expansion of existing quantum-inspired classical solvers from expanding covering large DOD-relevant cases.
“The goal is to enable a 500X performance improvement in the energy required to solve complex, DOD-relevant optimization problems,” said Bryan Jacobs, a program manager at DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office.
A broad agency announcement posted on SAM.gov stated that the agency expects to award $17 million for the first technical area of the project and $41 million for the second area. Proposals are due Dec. 8th.