Information Rates of ASK-Based Molecular Communication in Fluid Media

This paper studies the capacity of molecular communications in fluid media, where the information is encoded in the number of transmitted molecules in a time-slot (amplitude shift keying). The propagation of molecules is governed by random Brownian motion and the communication is in general subject to inter-symbol interference (ISI). We first consider the case where ISI is negligible and analyze the capacity and the capacity per unit cost of the resulting discrete memoryless molecular channel and the effect of possible practical constraints, such as limitations on peak and/or average number of transmitted molecules per transmission. In the case with a constrained peak molecular emission, we show that as the time-slot duration increases, the input distribution achieving the capacity per channel use transitions from binary inputs to a discrete uniform distribution. In this paper, we also analyze the impact of ISI. Crucially, we account for the correlation that ISI induces between channel output symbols. We derive an upper bound and two lower bounds on the capacity in this setting. Using the input distribution obtained by an extended Blahut-Arimoto algorithm, we maximize the lower bounds. Our results show that, over a wide range of parameter values, the bounds are close.Comment: 31 pages, 8 figures, Accepted for publication on IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communication

A Survey on Modulation Techniques in Molecular Communication via Diffusion

This survey paper focuses on modulation aspects of molecular communication, an emerging field focused on building biologically-inspired systems that embed data within chemical signals. The primary challenges in designing these systems are how to encode and modulate information onto chemical signals, and how to design a receiver that can detect and decode the information from the corrupted chemical signal observed at the destination. In this paper, we focus on modulation design for molecular communication via diffusion systems. In these systems, chemical signals are transported using diffusion, possibly assisted by flow, from the transmitter to the receiver. This tutorial presents recent advancements in modulation and demodulation schemes for molecular communication via diffusion. We compare five different modulation types: concentration-based, type-based, timing-based, spatial, and higher-order modulation techniques. The end-to-end system designs for each modulation scheme are presented. In addition, the key metrics used in the literature to evaluate the performance of these techniques are also presented. Finally, we provide a numerical bit error rate comparison of prominent modulation techniques using analytical models. We close the tutorial with a discussion of key open issues and future research directions for design of molecular communication via diffusion systems.Comment: Preprint of the accepted manuscript for publication in IEEE Surveys and Tutorial

A comprehensive survey of recent advancements in molecular communication

With much advancement in the field of nanotechnology, bioengineering and synthetic biology over the past decade, microscales and nanoscales devices are becoming a reality. Yet the problem of engineering a reliable communication system between tiny devices is still an open problem. At the same time, despite the prevalence of radio communication, there are still areas where traditional electromagnetic waves find it difficult or expensive to reach. Points of interest in industry, cities, and medical applications often lie in embedded and entrenched areas, accessible only by ventricles at scales too small for conventional radio waves and microwaves, or they are located in such a way that directional high frequency systems are ineffective. Inspired by nature, one solution to these problems is molecular communication (MC), where chemical signals are used to transfer information. Although biologists have studied MC for decades, it has only been researched for roughly 10 year from a communication engineering lens. Significant number of papers have been published to date, but owing to the need for interdisciplinary work, much of the results are preliminary. In this paper, the recent advancements in the field of MC engineering are highlighted. First, the biological, chemical, and physical processes used by an MC system are discussed. This includes different components of the MC transmitter and receiver, as well as the propagation and transport mechanisms. Then, a comprehensive survey of some of the recent works on MC through a communication engineering lens is provided. The paper ends with a technology readiness analysis of MC and future research directions