Deterministic capacity of information flow in molecular nanonetworks

• Published in: Nano communication networks Vol. 1; no. 1; pp. 31 - 42
• Main Authors: Atakan, Baris, Akan, Ozgur B.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01.03.2010
• Subjects: Information flow in nanonetworks; Molecular communication; Molecular communication channel capacity; Nanoscale communication; Nanoscale communication; Information flow in nanonetworks; Molecular communication; Molecular communication channel capacity
• ISSN: 1878-7789; 1878-7797
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nancom.2010.03.003

Molecular communication enables nanomachines to exchange information with each other by emitting molecules to their surrounding environment. Molecular nanonetworks are envisioned as a number of nanomachines that are deployed in an environment to share specific molecular information such as odor, flavor, or any chemical state. In this paper, using the stochastic model of molecular reactions in biochemical systems, a realistic channel model is first introduced for molecular communication. Then, based on the realistic channel model, we introduce a deterministic capacity expression for point-to-point, broadcast, and multiple-access molecular channels. We also investigate information flow capacity in a molecular nanonetwork for the realization of efficient communication and networking techniques for frontier nanonetwork applications. The results reveal that molecular point-to-point, broadcast, and multiple-access channels are feasible with a satisfactorily high molecular communication rate, which allows molecular information flow in nanonetworks. Furthermore, the derived molecular channel model with input-dependent noise term also reveals that unlike a traditional Gaussian communication channel, achievable capacity is affected by both lower and upper bounds of the channel input in molecular communication channels.