Open Architecture Quantum (OAQ) Specification for pulse-level jobs

Quantum jobs must be transformed from high-level abstractions into signal-level representations of biases, pulses, acquisitions, and timing constraints before execution. This layer is especially important for calibrating QPUs, which require routines defined at this abstraction level. A key challenge lies in the diversity of pulse-level user interfaces and vendor-specific integrations required for different control systems, limiting workflow portability and reuse. We introduce a common integration point for multi-vendor quantum software and hardware—an open specification for low-level jobs that enables a two-step compilation bridge between stack levels. Implemented as an abstract syntax graph, it provides a language-agnostic data structure transformable to and from target representations. This intermediate representation expresses core signal operations as well as advanced features like control flow and dynamic parameterization. Designed to be expressive across QPU modalities—initially superconducting and ion-trap—and vendor-agnostic, we evaluate the spec. by comparing calibration workflows run through direct integrations and via the spec. We execute these on a QPU within a reconfigurable testbed enabling submissions from services by Qruise & Q-CTRL, on control systems from Quantum Machines and Qblox, and discuss the results.