Manarat: A scalable QICK-based control system for superconducting quantum processors supporting synchronized control of 10 flux-tunable qubits.
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Abstract
A scalable control architecture for superconducting quantum processors is essential as the number of qubits increases and coherent multi-qubit operations span beyond the capacity of a single control module. The Quantum Instrumentation Control Kit (QICK), built on AMD RFSoC platforms, offers a flexible open-source framework for pulse-level qubit control but lacks native support for multi-board synchronization, limiting its applicability to mid- and large-scale quantum devices. To overcome this limitation, we introduce Manarat, a scalable multi-board control platform based on QICK that incorporates hardware, firmware, and software enhancements to enable sub-100 ps timing alignment across multiple AMD ZCU216 RFSoC boards. Our system integrates a low-jitter clock distribution network, modifications to the tProcessor, and a synchronization scheme to ensure deterministic alignment of program execution across boards. It also includes a custom analog front-end for flux control that combines high-speed RF signals with software-programmable DC biasing voltages generated by a low-noise, high-precision DAC. These capabilities are complemented by a software stack capable of orchestrating synchronized multi-board experiments and fully integrated with the open-source Qibo framework for quantum device calibration and algorithm execution. We validate Manarat on a 10-qubit superconducting processor controlled by two RFSoC boards, demonstrating reliable execution of synchronized control sequences for cross-board CZ gate calibration. These results confirm that sub-nanosecond synchronization and coherent control are achievable across multiple RFSoC boards, enabling scalable operation of superconducting quantum computers.