Physical-layer cryptographic communications
Key agreement and authentication drawn from the properties of the transmission medium and the hardware itself, not solely from computational-hardness assumptions.
Physical-layer cryptography and hardware security, Virginia Beach
Security that lives in the physics.
QSymbolic develops physical-layer cryptographic communications and hardware security primitives, from continuous-variable tensor-phase handshakes to read-once memory, for defense and critical-infrastructure applications.
Four research lines, one premise: bind secrets to physical behavior.
Each program pairs a formal model with working hardware, from circuit simulation to FPGA prototypes.
Continuous-variable tensor-phase handshakes
Handshake protocols that encode shared state in continuous phase relationships, built on the Triangle Symbolic Processing Framework (TSPF).
Hardware security primitives
ROOM (Read Only-Once Memory): collapse-domain storage that yields a secret exactly once, with a working FPGA prototype on Intel Cyclone V. Further semiconductor-level work is in progress.
Quantum analog twin
Classical analog hardware that models quantum-style state behavior at room temperature.
Patents: protected, documented, licensable.
| Technology | Filing | Status |
|---|---|---|
| ROOM (Read Only-Once Memory) | U.S. Appl. 63/822,892 | Patent pending, Track One |
| TSPF (Triangle Symbolic Processing Framework) | Provisional, June 13, 2025 | Patent pending |
| MultiFET, sandwich geometry | Provisional, June 29, 2026 | Patent pending |
| Constrained adaptive control of physical systems | Provisional, December 29, 2025 | Patent pending |
| Semiconductor and analog-computation portfolio | Not yet public | In preparation |
For licensing and teaming inquiries, get in touch.
Published research
When Not to Act: Escalation Discipline Under Noise in SOC and SIGINT Systems
A decision-theoretic framework that treats escalation as irreversible and abstention as a legitimate outcome, defining credibility by decision stability rather than detection accuracy.
doi:10.22541/au.176790703.35593289/v1WMD-Class Risk Without Explosives: Autonomous Coercion in Cyber Systems
A work-in-progress paper arguing that autonomous coercion is a distinct catastrophic-risk class for the Science of Security community.
doi:10.22541/au.176790707.76303170/v1A CMOS Electrical Non-Persistence Primitive for Single-Use Secrets
ENP-P: a basis-gated cell that discloses a secret exactly once and grounds its encoding in the same event, validated as a 64 × 256-bit array on an Intel Cyclone V FPGA. RTL and bitstream on GitHub.
doi:10.36227/techrxiv.176583510.02228836/v1A CMOS Measurement–Collapse Primitive for Ephemeral Secrets in Post-Quantum Cryptography
The measurement–collapse model behind Read Only-Once Memory (ROOM): single-use disclosure and post-read irrecoverability for ephemeral keys.
doi:10.36227/techrxiv.176463742.23048082Built for evaluation by mission teams.
We brief technical evaluators directly.
- SOFWERX Tech Tuesday
- ROOM presented, July 2026
- DARPA
- We follow DARPA program announcements closely.
- Company identifiers
- UEI M9DAN28Y9YU6, CAGE 23FZ3
About QSymbolic: an independent lab with a long memory.
QSymbolic LLC was founded by Francis X. Cunnane III, an independent inventor whose work in network cryptography dates to NETWORKCRYPT in 2012.
His research spans hardware security primitives and applied cryptography, including cold-boot and DMA attacks, memory encryption and symbolic computation, carried from formal models through circuit-level simulation to FPGA hardware.
Francis is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and is based in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
Request a technical briefing.
For program managers, integrators and licensing partners evaluating physical-layer security. Tell us your program, your timeline and what you would like to see.
frank [at] qsymbolic [dot] com