Characterization of Dielectrophoresis Based Relay-Assisted Molecular Communication Using Analogue Transmission Line

Abstract

Increase in research focus on developing lab-on-chip based devices like Body-on-chip and Organ-on-chip, have led to a higher number of functional entities in lab-on-chip. This, in turn, has led to increasingly complex microfluidic channel networks. Thus, there arises a need to characterize the microfluidic networks and establish communication among various entities of lab-on-chip. Electric circuit analogy is one of the options for the characterization of such a microfluidic network. Further, the dielectrophoresis relay-assisted molecular communication system can help in establishing interconnection among various entities using molecular communication. We propose to use an electrical transmission line technique to model and characterize the dielectrophoresis relay-assisted molecular communication system. We use transmission line parameters- resistance, inductance, and capacitance for characterizing the said molecular communication system. The numerical results obtained show that the peak concentration reduces as a function of distance, and the attenuation of the transmitted signal decreases with the increase in the number of relays in the system. This implies that the dielectrophoresis relay-assisted molecular communication system can help in transmitting low-frequency concentration signal with low attenuation. The results obtained are consistent with those obtained with already existing techniques. Thus, the transmission line technique can be utilized for characterizing a microfluidic system for molecular communication.