Communication In Nanonetworks Research Articles

Epidemic-Like Calcium Signaling in Mobile Molecular Communication Networks.

Molecular Communication is an emerging technology enabling communications in nano-networks. Ca2+ signal is one promising option of MC due to the important role in bio-metabolisms and the available characteristics in communication engineering. So far, scientists analyze Ca2+ signaling via bio-experiments and simulations. Current researches lack a mathematical model for quantitative analysis of Ca2+ signal propagation on the network scale. In this work, we investigate the propagation patterns of Ca2+ signals in bio-cellular network. Firstly, we propose an improved Ca2+ dynamics model to describe Ca2+ signals considering movements of cells and attenuation of Ca2+ concentration. Then, we perform multi-modal analysis through the waveform characteristics, and classify cells according to their states. Moreover, a mathematical model is put forward to analyze the propagation of calcium signals based on typical epidemic model. The proposed model fully considers the similarity between: 1) epidemic disease propagates among mobile individuals; 2) Ca2+ signal propagates among mobile cells. The proposed model is amended to fit the case considering unique characters of Ca2+ signal. Finally, simulation results show that the proposed Ca2+ propagation model is coincident with Monte Carlo simulation results, indicating that the model is helpful for understanding how far and how fast Ca2+ signal can propagate.

Wireless Communication in Nanonetworks: Current Status, Prospect and Challenges

As candidate new wireless communication schemes, the molecular communication (MC) and nano-electromagnetic communication (NEC) get more and more attention. Benefit from the special communication framework, several high-value applications like healthcare monitoring and drug delivery, plants and animals monitoring, and detect and manage the corrosion of pipe can be imaged which serve the people, environment and industry from the view of nanoscale transmission. However, considered the specific information carrier, new channel characters and nanoscale transmitter and receiver, obviously the gap from theory to practice can also be imaged. In this paper, we firstly describe the requirements for MC and NEC from the vision of next generation wireless communication. Based on the requirements, five potential applications have been presented and finally, we point out some challenges from theory to practice. We hope to find out the nearest path of MC and NEC from academic research to people’s real life.

A compact graphene based nano-antenna for communication in nano-network

Due to recent advances in nanotechnology, the use of nano-devices and its<br />network becomes more popular in the field of medical, commercial and<br />military applications. One of the major issues in designing nano-network is<br />miniaturization of nano-devices which are limited due to communication<br />antenna used in that device and its power constraints. At 1000nm size, an<br />antenna resonates at around 100 THz which suffers from greater propagation<br />loss and provides signal coverage of micrometer distances. Hence there is a<br />need for nano-antenna with reduced size and also operating at mid infrared<br />frequencies to provide a good signal coverage. In this paper, graphene-based<br />nano-antenna is presented. The model resonates at 55THz frequency with a<br />peak gain of 5.47 dB in the propagation direction. The model exploits the<br />principle of surface plasma polarition waves for miniaturization and achieves<br />50% size reduction when compared to conventional nano-antenna and best<br />suitable for nano-network communications.

A Compact Graphene Based Nano-Antenna for Communication in Nano-Network

Due to recent advances in nanotechnology, the use of nano-devices and its network becomes more popular in the field of medical, commercial and military applications. One of the major issues in designing nano-network is miniaturization of nano-devices which are limited due to communication antenna used in that device and its power constraints. At 1000nm size, an antenna resonates at around 100 THz which suffers from greater propagation loss and provides signal coverage of micrometer distances. Hence there is a need for nano-antenna with reduced size and also operating at mid infrared frequencies to provide a good signal coverage. In this paper, Graphene-based nano-antenna is presented. The model resonates at 55THz frequency with a peak gain of 5.47 dB in the propagation direction. The model exploits the principle of surface plasma polariton waves for miniaturization and achieves 50% size reduction when compared to conventional nano-antenna and best suitable for nano-network communications.

The effect of RBCs concentration in blood on the wireless communication in Nano-networks in the THz band

In-vivo wireless nano-sensor networks have been proven to be a promising technology that will enable a variety of applications ranging from health monitoring and diagnosis to drug delivery systems. Miniaturization of the components of nano-devices enforced the electromagnetic communication among nano-devices to be in the THz band. Unfortunately, in-vivo medium contains bio-materials and fluids, e.g., blood, that contaminate the THz signal, which highlighted the urgency behind investigating the blood’s spreading and absorption spectrum in the THz band. In this paper, we present an electromagnetic model for blood with the flexibility of specifying the volume fraction and the particle shape of its Red Blood Cells (RBCs) by using Effective Medium Theory (EMT), we investigate the effect of the volume fraction of its RBCs (also known as hematocrit) on its characteristics and on the amount of contamination that the wireless signal will suffer while being transmitted. In particular, we analyze the blood as a medium for wireless signals in the THz band under different bandwidths and parameters including, path loss, molecular noise, SNR and information rate. The main findings of this paper concludes that as the RBCs concentration increase, the path loss and molecular noise decrease. The signal in blood with different RBCs concentrations ranging from 20% to 60% will experience the same noise and path loss in the band 0.1–0.6 THz. Most notably, we found out that the optimum frequency range of operation where the concentration of RBCs will not introduce any peculiarities is the frequency range 0.1–0.6 THz, which could be used as a unified range for forthcoming THz communications in blood with any RBCs concentrations ranging from 20% to 60%. We finally conclude that the particle shape of the RBCs has no effect on the blood as a THz medium for wireless communications.

Modeling and Performance Analysis of Metallic Plasmonic Nano-Antennas for Wireless Optical Communication in Nanonetworks

In this paper, metallic plasmonic nano-antennas are modeled and analyzed for wireless optical communication. More specifically, a unified mathematical framework is developed to investigate the performance in transmission and reception of metallic nano-dipole antennas. This framework takes into account the metal properties, i.e., its dynamic complex conductivity and permittivity; the propagation properties of surface plasmon polariton waves on the nano-antenna, i.e., their confinement factor and propagation length; and the antenna geometry, i.e., length and radius. The generated plasmonic current in reception and the total radiated power and efficiency in transmission are analytically derived by utilizing the framework. In addition to numerical results, the analytical models are validated by means of simulations with COMSOL Multi-physics. The developed framework will guide the design and development of novel nano-antennas suited for wireless optical communication.

Molecular Communication in Nanonetworks

Molecular Communication in Nanonetworks

A Novel Electrical Model for Advection-Diffusion-Based Molecular Communication in Nanonetworks.

In this paper, we propose an end-to-end electrical model to characterize the communication between two nanomachines via advection-diffusion motion along the conventional pipe medium. For this modeling, we consider three modules consisting of transmitter, advection-diffusion propagation and receiver. The modulation scheme and releasing molecules through the conventional pipe medium from the transmitter nanomachine is represented in the transmitter module. The advection-diffusion propagation of molecules along the flow-induced path is shown in advection-diffusion propagation module, and the demodulation scheme of bounded particles at the receiver nanomachine is characterized in the receiver module. Our objective is to find an electrical model of each module under the zero initial condition which enables us to represent the electrical circuit related to each module. The transmitter and the signal propagation models are built on the basis of the molecular advection-diffusion physics, whereas the receiver model is interpreted by stemming from the theory of the ligand-receptor binding chemical process. In addition, we employ the transfer function of modules to derive the normalized gain and the delay of each module. Supported by numerical results, we analyze the effect of physical parameters of the pipe medium on the total normalized gain and delay of molecular communications.

Errors and Power When Communicating With Spins

We consider a network composed of a finite set of communicating nodes that send individual particles to each other, and each particle can carry binary information. Though our main motivation is related to communications in nanonetworks with electrons that carry magnetic spin as the bipolar information, one can also imagine that the particles may be molecules that use chirality to convey information. Since it is difficult for a particle to carry an identifier that conveys the identity of the source or destination, each node receives particles whose source cannot be ascertained since physical imperfections may result in particles being directed to the wrong destination in a manner that interferes with the correctly directed particles, and particles that should arrive at a node may be received by some other node. In addition, noise may randomly switch the polarity of particles, and in the case of magnetic spin, we can also have the effect of entanglement. We estimate the error probability in such a multipoint network as a function of the rate of flow of particles, and the power consumption per communicating pair of nodes. We then design a bipolar detector and show that it can significantly eliminate the effect of errors.

D-MoSK Modulation in Molecular Communications.

Molecular communication in nanonetworks is an emerging communication paradigm that uses molecules as information carriers. In molecule shift keying (MoSK), where different types of molecules are used for encoding, transmitter and receiver complexities increase as the modulation order increases. We propose a modulation technique called depleted MoSK (D-MoSK) in which, molecules are released if the information bit is 1 and no molecule is released for 0. The proposed scheme enjoys reduced number of the types of molecules for encoding. Numerical results show that the achievable rate is considerably higher and symbol error rate (SER) performance is better in the proposed technique.

A systems-theoretic model of a biological circuit for molecular communication in nanonetworks

Recent advances in synthetic biology, in particular towards the engineering of DNA-based circuits, are providing tools to program man-designed functions within biological cells, thus paving the way for the realization of biological nanoscale devices, known as nanomachines. By stemming from the way biological cells communicate in the nature, Molecular Communication (MC), i.e., the exchange of information through the emission, propagation, and reception of molecules, has been identified as the key paradigm to interconnect these biological nanomachines into nanoscale networks, or nanonetwork. The design of MC nanonetworks built upon biological circuits is particularly interesting since cells possess many of the elements required to realize this type of communication, thus enabling the design of cooperative functions in the biological environment. In this paper, a systems-theoretic modeling is realized by analyzing a minimal subset of biological circuit elements necessary to be included in an MC nanonetwork design where the message-bearing molecules are propagated via free diffusion between two cells. The obtained system-theoretic models stem from the biochemical processes underlying cell-to-cell MC, and are analytically characterized by their transfer functions, attenuation and delay experienced by an information signal exchanged by the communicating cells. Numerical results are presented to evaluate the obtained analytical expressions as functions of realistic biological parameters.

Cooperative signal amplification for molecular communication in nanonetworks

Nanotechnology is enabling the development of devices in a scale ranging from a few to hundreds of nanometers. Communication between these devices greatly expands the possible applications, increasing the complexity and range of operation of the system. In particular, the resulting nanocommunication networks (or nanonetworks) show great potential for applications in the biomedical field, in which diffusion-based molecular communication is regarded as a promising alternative to EM-based solutions due to the bio-stability and energy-related requirements of this scenario. However, molecular signals suffer a significant amount of attenuation as they propagate through the medium, thus limiting the transmission range. In this paper, a signal amplification scheme for molecular communication nanonetworks is presented wherein a group of emitters jointly transmits a given signal after achieving synchronization. This is achieved by means of quorum sensing (QS), a method used by bacteria to both sense their population and coordinate their actions. By using the proposed methodology, the transmission range is extended proportionally to the number of synchronized emitters. An analytical model of QS is provided and validated through simulation. This model is the main contribution of this work and accounts for the activation threshold (which will eventually determine the resulting amplification level) and the delay of the synchronization process.

Graphene-based Plasmonic Nano-Antenna for Terahertz Band Communication in Nanonetworks

Nanonetworks, i.e., networks of nano-sized devices, are the enabling technology of long-awaited applications in the biological, industrial and military fields. For the time being, the size and power constraints of nano-devices limit the applicability of classical wireless communication in nanonetworks. Alternatively, nanomaterials can be used to enable electromagnetic (EM) communication among nano-devices. In this paper, a novel graphene-based nano-antenna, which exploits the behavior of Surface Plasmon Polariton (SPP) waves in semi-finite size Graphene Nanoribbons (GNRs), is proposed, modeled and analyzed. First, the conductivity of GNRs is analytically and numerically studied by starting from the Kubo formalism to capture the impact of the electron lateral confinement in GNRs. Second, the propagation of SPP waves in GNRs is analytically and numerically investigated, and the SPP wave vector and propagation length are computed. Finally, the nano-antenna is modeled as a resonant plasmonic cavity, and its frequency response is determined. The results show that, by exploiting the high mode compression factor of SPP waves in GNRs, graphene-based plasmonic nano-antennas are able to operate at much lower frequencies than their metallic counterparts, e.g., the Terahertz Band for a one-micrometer-long ten-nanometers-wide antenna. This result has the potential to enable EM communication in nanonetworks.

A Brief Survey on Molecular and Electromagnetic Communications in Nano-Networks

Recent advancement in physics and nanotechnology have paved the way for manufacturing of processor, memory, batteries, transceiver, antenna and sensing units at nano-scale. A nanomachine is an integrated device with dimensions in nano-scale, and able to do simple tasks. By networking of nano-machines, they are able to perform the more complicated tasks by the cooperative manner and can play an important role in applications such as biomedical, environmental monitoring, industrial and military. Many novel nano-scale communication options have been currently proposed. However, there are four main nano-scale communication techniques: nanomechanical, acoustic, chemical or molecular and electromagnetic communications. However, this paper focuses on the molecular and electromagnetic communications as the promising nanoscale communication approaches, and then will be reviewed the novel nano-scale communication paradigms that are currently presented.

Link layer modeling of bio-inspired communication in nanonetworks

Bio-inspired packet communication over a link between two nanogateways is considered. In the envisioned nanonetwork architecture, bacteria are employed as transporters of information packets between gateways and therefore, the link layer model must take into account the behavior of these transporters. With the unique features of this mode of communication integrated into a simulation software, single-hop delay and throughput performance measures are analyzed. The effects on performance of traffic generation intensity, source–destination separation distance, propagation time variability, packet lifetime, and the number of bacteria that can be processed concurrently at the nanogateway are presented. The primary contribution of this study is an assessment of the effects of congestion in nanonetworks through consideration of competition among bacteria for conjugation at a nanogateway.

Bacteria-based communication in nanonetworks

This paper describes a Bacteria-based Nanonetwork for communication between eukaryotic cell sized nano devices. The communication is achieved by the exchange of DNA molecules which are transported by bacteria guided by chemotaxis. First, the modules of the network are described and all the biological phenomena that support the basic communication steps are explained in detail. Then an analytical model is developed to assess the communication range and the network performance in terms of capacity and end-to-end delay by considering the available information about the biological mechanisms used. As there are no appropriate estimates of the propagation delay introduced by bacterial chemotaxis, our newly developed simulator is introduced which helps us to obtain the statistics on bacteria propagation. Finally, by combining the analytical model with the simulation results, a network performance in terms of end-to-end delay, capacity and end-to-end throughput is obtained which is 4 orders of magnitude higher than the other molecular communication approaches.

On the characterization of binary concentration-encoded molecular communication in nanonetworks

In this study, nanoscale communication networks have been investigated in the context of binary concentration-encoded unicast molecular communication suitable for numerous emerging applications, for example in healthcare and nanobiomedicine. The main focus of the paper has been given to the spatiotemporal distribution of signal strength and modulation schemes suitable for short-range, medium-range, and long-range molecular communication between two communicating nanomachines in a nanonetwork. This paper has principally focused on bio-inspired transmission techniques for concentration-encoded molecular communication systems. Spatiotemporal distributions of a carrier signal in the form of the concentration of diffused molecules over the molecular propagation channel and diffusion-dependent communication ranges have been explained for various scenarios. Finally, the performance analysis of modulation schemes has been evaluated in the form of the steady-state loss of amplitude of the received concentration signals and its dependence on the transmitter–receiver distance.

A physical end-to-end model for molecular communication in nanonetworks

Molecular communication is a promising paradigm for nanoscale networks. The end-to-end (including the channel) models developed for classical wireless communication networks need to undergo a profound revision so that they can be applied for nanonetworks. Consequently, there is a need to develop new end-to-end (including the channel) models which can give new insights into the design of these nanoscale networks. The objective of this paper is to introduce a new physical end-to-end (including the channel) model for molecular communication. The new model is investigated by means of three modules, i.e., the transmitter, the signal propagation and the receiver. Each module is related to a specific process involving particle exchanges, namely, particle emission, particle diffusion and particle reception. The particle emission process involves the increase or decrease of the particle concentration rate in the environment according to a modulating input signal. The particle diffusion provides the propagation of particles from the transmitter to the receiver by means of the physics laws underlying particle diffusion in the space. The particle reception process is identified by the sensing of the particle concentration value at the receiver location. Numerical results are provided for three modules, as well as for the overall end-to-end model, in terms of normalized gain and delay as functions of the input frequency and of the transmission range.