# Deltaflow by Riverlane Canonical page: https://technooptimist.io/quantum/deltaflow Frontier: [Quantum](https://technooptimist.io/quantum.md) · Field: Fridges, control & fabs · Company: [Riverlane](https://technooptimist.io/companies/riverlane.md) Stage: Pilot (3 of 5: Research → Proto → Pilot → Deploy → Scaling) Updated: last update 2026-03-12, facts checked 2026-10-11 Goal: Make error correction work in real time on any type of qubit, so quantum computers can run a million, then a trillion, error-free operations, the scale where useful chemistry and materials problems open up. Status: Deployed with partner machines; Deltaflow 3 with 'streaming logic' is due late 2026. Next milestone: Deltaflow 3 with streaming logic, target Q4 2026 ## Milestones | Status | Milestone | Date | Slip | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Done | $75M Series C funds three-year error-correction roadmap | Aug 2024 | | | Done | Adaptive Local Clustering Decoder published | Dec 2025 | | | Done | Roadmap: utility-scale quantum 3–5 years sooner | Mar 2026 | | | Current | Deltaflow 3 with streaming logic | Q4 2026 | | | Planned | MegaQuOp: one million error-free operations | 2029 | +36 mo (originally 2026) | | Planned | GigaQuOp: one billion error-free operations | | | | Planned | TeraQuOp: one trillion error-free operations | 2033 | | ## Upcoming events - **Q4 2026**: Deltaflow 3 with streaming logic - **2029**: MegaQuOp: one million error-free operations (slipped 36 mo) - **2033**: TeraQuOp: one trillion error-free operations ## Most important updates - **12 Mar 2026**: Riverlane roadmap targets a million error-free quantum operations before 2030 and a trillion from 2033. Riverlane published a roadmap and whitepaper arguing its error-correction technology can bring useful quantum computing 3–5 years sooner. ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/riverlane-roadmap-targets-a-million-error-free-quantum-operations-89367046.md) · [original source](https://thequantuminsider.com/2026/03/12/riverlane-publishes-quantum-error-correction-roadmap-to-speed-utility-scale-quantum-by-3-5-years/)) - **19 Dec 2025**: Riverlane's adaptive hardware decoder corrects errors in under 1 µs per round, cutting qubit overhead by up to 75%. In a peer-reviewed Nature Communications paper, Riverlane described its Local Clustering Decoder, an FPGA decoder for the surface code that works in under a microsecond per round and adapts to leakage, where qubits slip out of their 0/1… ([our story](https://technooptimist.io/stories/riverlane-s-adaptive-hardware-decoder-corrects-errors-in-under-1-s-per-9639e7fd.md) · [original source](https://quantumcomputingreport.com/riverlane-unveils-first-adaptive-hardware-decoder-to-deliver-real-time-quantum-error-correction/)) ## Current obstacles - **Streaming decoding for logic**: Correcting errors while logical qubits interact, not just while stored, is the next step; it is planned for Deltaflow 3 in late 2026. - **Data rates grow with the machine**: Decoding many logical qubits means terabytes of check data per second; hardware must scale without adding latency. - **Million-operation target slipped**: The 2024 plan aimed for a million error-free operations as early as end-2026; the 2026 roadmap moves it to before 2030. ## Physics limits - **Decoding is a race against the qubits**: Fast qubits finish a round of checks about every microsecond; a decoder that falls behind builds a backlog that stalls the whole computation. - **Overhead can shrink, not vanish**: A reliable logical qubit needs many physical qubits; a better decoder lowers that count but cannot remove it, because the code must still spot every error. ## How it works ### Checks: Qubits report symptoms, not answers Helper qubits are measured every round to check their neighbours; the result is a pattern of alarms, never the data itself. ### Decoder: Infer the most likely error FPGA hardware matches the alarm pattern to the most likely set of errors in under a microsecond, round after round. ### Adaptive: Handle qubits that leak away The decoder adapts when qubits leak out of their 0/1 states, so a smaller code (distance 17, not 33) reaches the same accuracy. ### Feedback: Corrections back to the control system Corrections go to the machine's control electronics so the computation continues on clean logical qubits. ## Spec sheet | Spec | Deltaflow | Provenance | | --- | --- | --- | | Decoding time per round | < 1 µs | reported | | Physical-qubit overhead cut (adaptive) | up to 75% | reported | | Code distance for target accuracy | 17 (vs 33 non-adaptive) | reported | | Decoder hardware | FPGA | reported | | Hardware makers and labs working with it | 20+ | reported | Provenance: reported = stated by the company; estimated = our estimate; sample = a sample figure. ## Papers and demos - **Dec 2025** (paper): Local Clustering Decoder: real-time adaptive hardware decoding for the surface code (Nature Communications). Shows an FPGA decoder under 1 µs per round that copes with leakage, cutting qubit overhead by up to 75%. ## About Riverlane Riverlane builds the classical side of quantum error correction: decoder hardware and software that spot qubit errors and correct them in real time. The University of Cambridge spin-out, founded in 2016, works with over 20 hardware makers and national labs. - Deltaflow decoders run with Infleqtion, OQC, Rigetti and Oak Ridge; over 20 makers and labs work with it. - Dec 2025: adaptive hardware decoder, under 1 µs per round, cuts qubit overhead by up to 75% (Nature Comms). - Mar 2026 roadmap: a million error-free operations before 2030, a trillion from about 2033. - Founded: 2016 - Headquarters: GB - Status: private - Raised: $75M - Last round: Series C $75M, 6 Aug 2024, led by Planet First Partners - Website: https://www.riverlane.com - People: Steve Brierley (Founder & CEO); Earl Campbell (VP Quantum Science) - Partners, customers, investors: Planet First Partners (investor); Infleqtion (partner); Oxford Quantum Circuits (partner); Rigetti Computing (partner); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (partner); Alice & Bob (partner); QuEra Computing (partner) Company page: https://technooptimist.io/companies/riverlane.md ## Related programs Everything in Quantum: https://technooptimist.io/quantum.md --- The Techno Optimist tracks every frontier of technology, program by program: https://technooptimist.io/ (a Markdown version of any page: add .md to its URL; site map for agents: https://technooptimist.io/llms.txt). 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