Survey on macro-scale molecular communication prototypes

Abstract

Molecular communication is an emerging communication paradigm that exploits the characteristics of information particles for message exchange. It can be served as an alternative for the scenarios where the propagation of conventional signal carriers, e.g., electromagnetic waves, is inapplicable. Current research of molecular communication focuses on the theoretical analysis, while it lacks the prototype experiments for validating the theory as well as advancing the practical applications. The first part defined molecular communication systems based on the transmitter, channel, and receiver. Then, the progress of macro-scale prototype design is reviewed and categorized according to the channel type. Finally, based on the difference between the models in theory and prototype, the constraint of theoretical studies, the importance of prototype experiments, and the future research directions are discussed.