A nanonetwork or nanoscale network is a set of interconnected
nanomachines
A molecular machine, nanite, or nanomachine is a molecular component that produces quasi-mechanical movements (output) in response to specific stimuli (input). In cellular biology, macromolecular machines frequently perform tasks essential for l ...
(devices a few hundred
nanometers or a few
micrometer Micrometer can mean:
* Micrometer (device), used for accurate measurements by means of a calibrated screw
* American spelling of micrometre
The micrometre ( international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; ...
s at most in size), which are able to perform only very simple tasks such as
computing
Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, ...
,
data storing,
sensing and actuation. Nanonetworks are expected to expand the capabilities of single nanomachines both in terms of complexity and range of operation by allowing them to coordinate, share and fuse information. Nanonetworks enable new applications of
nanotechnology in the
biomedical field,
environmental
A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...
research, military technology and industrial and
consumer goods
A final good or consumer good is a final product ready for sale that is used by the consumer to satisfy current wants or needs, unlike a intermediate good, which is used to produce other goods. A microwave oven or a bicycle is a final good, b ...
applications. Nanoscale communication is defined in
IEEE P1906.1.
Communication approaches
Classical communication paradigms need to be revised for the nanoscale. The two main alternatives for communication in the nanoscale are based either on electromagnetic communication or on molecular communication.
Electromagnetic
This is defined as the transmission and reception of
electromagnetic radiation
In physics, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) consists of waves of the electromagnetic (EM) field, which propagate through space and carry momentum and electromagnetic radiant energy. It includes radio waves, microwaves, infrared, (visible) li ...
from components based on novel
nanomaterials
*
Nanomaterials describe, in principle, materials of which a single unit is sized (in at least one dimension) between 1 and 100 nm (the usual definition of nanoscale).
Nanomaterials research takes a materials science-based approach to na ...
. Recent advancements in
carbon
Carbon () is a chemical element with the symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalent—its atom making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds. It belongs to group 14 of the periodic table. Carbon mak ...
and
molecular electronics
Molecular electronics is the study and application of molecular building blocks for the fabrication of electronic components. It is an interdisciplinary area that spans physics, chemistry, and materials science. The unifying feature is use of mo ...
have opened the door to a new generation of electronic nanoscale components such as
nanobatteries, nanoscale
energy harvesting
Energy harvesting (EH, also known as power harvesting or energy scavenging or ambient power) is the process by which energy is derived from external sources (e.g., solar power, thermal energy, wind energy, salinity gradients, and kinetic ener ...
systems, nano-memories, logical circuitry in the nanoscale and even nano-antennas. From a communication perspective, the unique properties observed in nanomaterials will decide on the specific
bandwidths for emission of electromagnetic radiation, the time lag of the emission, or the magnitude of the emitted power for a given input energy, amongst others.
For the time being, two main alternatives for electromagnetic communication in the nanoscale have been envisioned. First, it has been experimentally demonstrated that is possible to receive and
demodulate
Demodulation is extracting the original information-bearing signal from a carrier wave. A demodulator is an electronic circuit (or computer program in a software-defined radio) that is used to recover the information content from the modulated c ...
an electromagnetic wave by means of a
nanoradio, i.e., an electromechanically resonating
carbon nanotube which is able to decode an amplitude or frequency modulated wave. Second, graphene-based nano-antennas have been analyzed as potential electromagnetic radiators in the
terahertz band
Terahertz radiation – also known as submillimeter radiation, terahertz waves, tremendously high frequency
(THF), T-rays, T-waves, T-light, T-lux or THz – consists of electromagnetic waves within the International Telecommunicat ...
.
Molecular
Molecular communication
Molecular communications systems use the presence or absence of a selected type of molecule to digitally encode messages. The molecules are delivered into communications media such as air and water for transmission. The technique also is not subje ...
is defined as the transmission and reception of information by means of molecules. The different molecular communication techniques can be classified according to the type of molecule propagation in walkaway-based, flow-based or diffusion-based communication.
In walkway-based molecular communication, the molecules propagate through pre-defined pathways by using carrier substances, such as
molecular motors
Molecular motors are natural (biological) or artificial molecular machines that are the essential agents of movement in living organisms. In general terms, a motor is a device that consumes energy in one form and converts it into motion or mech ...
. This type of molecular communication can also be achieved by using
E. coli bacteria as
chemotaxis.
In flow-based molecular communication, the molecules propagate through
diffusion
Diffusion is the net movement of anything (for example, atoms, ions, molecules, energy) generally from a region of higher concentration to a region of lower concentration. Diffusion is driven by a gradient in Gibbs free energy or chemica ...
in a fluidic medium whose flow and
turbulence
In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to a laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between ...
are guided and predictable. The
hormonal
A hormone (from the Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and behavior. Hormones are required f ...
communication through blood streams inside the human body is an example of this type of propagation. The flow-based propagation can also be realized by using carrier entities whose motion can be constrained on the average along specific paths, despite showing a random component. A good example of this case is given by
pheromonal long range molecular communications.
In diffusion-based molecular communication, the molecules propagate through spontaneous diffusion in a fluidic medium. In this case, the molecules can be subject solely to the laws of diffusion or can also be affected by non-predictable turbulence present in the fluidic medium. Pheromonal communication, when pheromones are released into a fluidic medium, such as air or water, is an example of diffusion-based architecture. Other examples of this kind of transport include
calcium signaling
Calcium signaling is the use of calcium ions (Ca2+) to communicate and drive intracellular processes often as a step in signal transduction. Ca2+ is important for cellular signalling, for once it enters the cytosol of the cytoplasm it exerts allos ...
among cells, as well as
quorum sensing
In biology, quorum sensing or quorum signalling (QS) is the ability to detect and respond to cell population density by gene regulation. As one example, QS enables bacteria to restrict the expression of specific genes to the high cell densities at ...
among bacteria.
Based on the macroscopic theory of ideal (free) diffusion the impulse response of a unicast molecular communication channel was reported in a paper that identified that the impulse response of the ideal diffusion based molecular communication channel experiences temporal spreading. Such temporal spreading has a deep impact in the performance of the system, for example in creating the intersymbol interference (ISI) at the receiving nanomachine. In order to detect the concentration-encoded molecular signal two detection methods named sampling-based detection (SD) and energy-based detection (ED) have been proposed. While the SD approach is based on the concentration amplitude of only one sample taken at a suitable time instant during the symbol duration, the ED approach is based on the total accumulated number of molecules received during the entire symbol duration. In order to reduce the impact of ISI a controlled pulse-width based molecular communication scheme has been analysed. The work presented in showed that it is possible to realize multilevel amplitude modulation based on ideal diffusion. A comprehensive study of pulse-based binary and sinus-based,
concentration-encoded molecular communication system have also been investigated.
See also
*
IEEE P1906.1 Recommended Practice for Nanoscale and Molecular Communication Framework
References
External links
IEEE Communications Society Best Readings in Nanoscale Communication NetworksStack Exchange Page for Q&A on NanoNetworkingNanoscale Networking in IndustryInstructions to join P1906.1 Working Groupat
Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
GRANET Project – Broadband Wireless Networking Laboratoryat
Georgia Tech
The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...
, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
NaNoNetworking Center in Catalunyaat
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
The Technical University of Catalonia ( ca, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, , es, link=no, Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña; UPC), currently referred to as BarcelonaTech, is the largest engineering university in Catalonia, Spai ...
, Barcelona, Catalunya, Spain
Molecular communication researchat
York University
York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...
, Toronto, Canada
Research on Molecular Communicationat
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ottaw ...
, Ottawa, Canada
Intelligence Networking Lab.at
Yonsei University
Yonsei University (; ) is a private research university in Seoul, South Korea. As a member of the " SKY" universities, Yonsei University is deemed one of the three most prestigious institutions in the country. It is particularly respected in th ...
, Korea
Wiki on Molecular Communicationat
University of California, Irvine
The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and p ...
, California, USA
Home pageof the
IEEE Communications Society
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is a 501(c)(3) professional association for electronic engineering and electrical engineering (and associated disciplines) with its corporate office in New York City and its operation ...
Emerging Technical Subcommittee on Nanoscale, Molecular, and Quantum Networking.
P1906.1 – Recommended Practice for Nanoscale and Molecular Communication FrameworkNano Communication Networks (Elsevier) JournalA simulation tool for nanoscale biological networks – Elsevier presentationNanoNetworking Research Group (NRG)at
Boğaziçi University
Boğaziçi University ( tr, Boğaziçi Üniversitesi), also known as Bosphorus University, is a major research university in Istanbul, Turkey. Its main campus is located on the European side of the Bosphorus strait. It has six faculties and tw ...
, Istanbul, Turkey
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Nanotechnology
Network architecture
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