Toshiba Brings SQBM+™, its Quantum-Inspired Optimization Solution,
to AWS Marketplace

February 10, 2023
Toshiba Digital Solutions Corporation

KAWASAKI― Toshiba Digital Solutions Corporation (TDSL), an industry leader in applying quantum-inspired solutions to complex real-world problems, today announced the launch of "SQBM+ for AWS," a version of its SQBM+ software customized for the AWS Marketplace operated by Amazon Web Services, Inc.

SQBM+ is optimization software¹ that quickly finds good solutions among an immense number of options. It is derived from the Simulated Bifurcation Machine (“SBM”), a combinatorial optimization solver built on the quantum-inspired² Simulated Bifurcation Algorithm (“SB Algorithm”)³ developed by Toshiba Corporation.

TDSL released a free, proof-of-concept (PoC) version of SBM on the AWS Marketplace⁴ in July 2019. Since then, working with universities, research institutions and other companies, TDSL has investigated real problems in combinatorial optimization, toward finding solutions to social issues in a range of fields. The PoC version has been used by hundreds of subscribers worldwide, and much of the knowledge obtained through its application has been brought into SQBM+. This has triggered requests for the incorporation of SQBM+ into customer systems for application in business.

Providing SQBM+ as a software module will allow customers who need to solve combinatorial optimization problems, in fields as diverse as finance, drug development, genetic engineering, logistics, and AI, to incorporate SQBM+ into their business applications and systems.

Combinatorial optimization is an essential tool for taking on many social and industrial challenges, and finding optimal answers from an enormous range of choices. Its many spheres of application include financial decision-making⁵, the movement of industrial robots, logistics and transmission routes, and drug discovery at the molecular level⁶. High speed combinatorial optimization on current computers is very difficult, because combination patterns increase exponentially as the scale of a problem grows. To overcome this, dedicated combinatorial optimization computers are being developed around the world.

SQBM+ runs on current computers and discovers high-precision, approximate solutions (good solutions) to complex, large-scale problems in a short time. Going forward, TDSL will apply SQBM+ in many fields and contribute to solving complicated social issues.

• Starting to use SQBM+ is quick and easy, as the preconfigured AMI launches the instance. There is no need to install SQBM+.
• The SQBM+ instance is dedicated to the user and quickly processes all requests. As it is a dedicated copy, users can freely control the resource (e.g. auto-scale, redundancy, start/stop).
• Can be embedded in the customer's system to reduce network overhead.

• Ballistic Simulated Bifurcation Algorithm (bSB): A high-speed algorithm for finding a good solution in a short time.¹¹
• Discrete Simulated Bifurcation Algorithm (dSB): A high-accuracy algorithm for finding a more accurate solution.¹²
• SQBM+ automatically selects and uses one of the two algorithms listed above.

3．Availability on AWS Marketplace
AWS Marketplace is a curated digital catalog that customers can use to find, buy, deploy, and manage third-party software, data, and services to build solutions and run their businesses. Its pre-configured software can be launched with just a few clicks. AWS Marketplace offers flexible pricing, and SQBM+ for AWS offers two versions and hourly and monthly options.

Pricing of SQBM+ for AWS
Two SQBM+ for AWS plans are available: Learn & Development is limited to use for familiarization; Business Standard is designed to support business operations. Both plans have hourly and monthly pricing models.

* Customers need to prepare Amazon EC2.

TDSL’s future plans include provision of on-site versions based on customers’ needs, professional services to support introduction by customers, and enhancement of the SQBM+ product lineup. 

TDSL products page on AWS Marketplace:
https://aws.amazon.com/marketplace/seller-profile?id=d204c622-7c0d-4510-8686-2bfb3213afa8 (Amazon Web Services, Inc.)

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discrete Simulated Bifurcation (dSB). So named because it replaces continuous values with discrete values in the equation of motion.　A machine in which dSB is mounted on a digital computer is called “dSB Machine (dSBM).”

• ”SQBM+” is a registered trademark or trademark of Toshiba Digital Solutions Corporation in Japan and other countries.
• ”Amazon Web Services”, “AWS,” and “Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2)” are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and other countries.
• In addition, the company names and product names described in this text may be used as trademarks or registered trademarks by the respective companies.
• Information in this news release, including content of services, product prices, specifications, related links and contact information, is current on the date of issue, but is subject to change without prior notice.