Multipartite Entanglement Routing in Integrated Ground–Satellite Quantum Networks

Abstract

Quantum networks are expected to support a wide range of emerging applications by enabling entanglement routing among remote nodes. Existing studies on quantum entanglement routing primarily focus on either ground-based networks or satellite-assisted networks. Moreover, bipartite and multipartite entanglement demands are typically considered separately, whereas practical quantum networks must simultaneously support heterogeneous entanglement demands. To fill this gap, this paper investigates an integrated ground–satellite quantum network that jointly considers both network architectures and demand types, serving both bipartite (Bell) and multipartite (GHZ) entanglement demands. We propose a unified optimization framework that jointly determines entanglement routing, resource allocation, and fusion-node selection for GHZ demands, with the objective of maximizing the expected entanglement delivery rate. To prevent multipartite entanglement requests from being consistently dominated by Bell demands, we incorporate an ϵ-constraint that enforces a minimum level of GHZ demand admission. Extensive simulation results demonstrate that the proposed approach significantly improves the total expected throughput while ensuring a higher admission rate for GHZ entanglement demands than existing routing schemes.