Message exchange dynamics in wireless biological nanonetworks

Abstract

Diffusive biological nanonetworks have been established as a communication physical layer option and are envisaged to govern the development of future nanonetwork communications. Being the major communication paradigm in biological environments, it allows biological nanomachines to communicate through exchanging pulses of molecules in an aqueous medium being endogenous to these dimensions and following the requirements for biocompatibility and interoperability. The peculiarities of this nanoscale level, related mostly to the channel and the message carriers, hinder the performance of communication protocols. Therefore, in this work, parameters that affect the communication at the lowest level are being analyzed bringing new insights in the sector. Analyzing the major components that take part in the reception process, the dynamics of message transfer between nanonodes are revealed by a plethora of simulation scenarios. By entering into the equation the dynamics of chemotaxis, the behavior of such a system is scrutinized pertaining to the communication performance and stability. The proposed analysis revealed that unlike electromagnetic nanonetworks and due to the nature of the medium, there are factors that should be foreseen in the design of biological communication protocols. These significant deductions are supplementary to the established work, by shedding light on the special characteristics of biological communication entities and the way they affect the information exchange.