NISQ to Fault Tolerance: Technical Innovations, Real World Implementations, and Systemic Barriers in Scalable Quantum Computing
Volume 19, Issue 2, 2025
Download| Author(s): |
Asad Raza* School of Computer Science and Engineering, Central South University Changsha 410083, China, asadraza_153@hotmail.com Ali Nawaz Sanjrani Department of Mechanical Engineering, MUET, SZAB Campus, Khairpur Mir’s, Pakistan, alinawaz.sanjrani@muetkhp.edu.pk Sajida Raz Bhutto Department of Software Engineering, MUET, SZAB Campus, Khairpur Mir’s, Pakistan, sajida.raz@muetkhp.edu.pk Muhammad Ejaz School of Computer Science and Engineering, Central South University Changsha 410083, China, accesstosaimu@outlook.com Mohsin Ali Department of Software Engineering, MUET, SZAB Campus, Khairpur Mir’s, Pakistan, mohsinbhellar98@gmail.com |
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| Abstract | Fault tolerant quantum computing remains out of reach for most current hardware, which operates in the Noisy Intermediate Scale Quantum (NISQ) regime and is constrained by decoherence, imperfect gates, and limited circuit depth. This paper presents a structured, systems level synthesis of the NISQ to fault tolerance transition using systematic mapping and descriptive comparative analysis of peer reviewed benchmarks, experimental demonstrations, and documented industrial case studies reported between 2020 and early 2025. Rather than proposing a new quantum architecture, the study consolidates modality consistent scaling indicators across superconducting, trapped-ion, and photonic platforms and distinguishes near term feasibility evidence (error mitigation and application pilots) from fault tolerance readiness signals (logical qubit behavior that improves with redundancy). Results show that the mapped literature is dominated by milestone and reliability demonstrations, while application outcomes in optimization and finance remain strongly pipeline and baseline dependent, with performance sensitive to instance structure, sampling overhead, and control stability. The analysis further indicates that cross platform comparison is limited by heterogeneous reporting conventions, motivating milestone based synthesis instead of a single normalized metric. Overall, the findings clarify where progress is most robust, where evidence remains conditional, and which engineering and system level constraints most directly shape the path from NISQ devices toward scalable fault tolerant quantum computing. |
| Keywords | NISQ, fault tolerant quantum computing, systematic mapping, error mitigation, quantum error correction, industrial case studies. |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Type | Research paper, manuscript, article |
| Journal Name | Journal of Information & Communication Technology | Publisher Name | ILMA University | Jel Classification | - | DOI | - | ISSN no (E, Electronic) | 2075-7239 | ISSN no (P, Print) | 2415-0169 | Country | Pakistan | City | Karachi | Institution Type | University | Journal Type | Open Access | Manuscript Processing | Blind Peer Reviewed | Format | Paper Link | https://jict.ilmauniversity.edu.pk/journal/jict/19.2/6.pdf | Page | 83-90 |