Enabling Energy Efficient Molecular Communication via Molecule Energy Transfer

Molecular communication via diffusion (MCvD) is inherently an energy efficient transportation paradigm, which requires no external energy during molecule propagation. Inspired by the fact that the emitted molecules have a finite probability to reach the receiver, this letter introduces an energy efficient scheme for the information molecule synthesis process of MCvD via a simultaneous molecular information and energy transfer (SMIET) relay. With this SMIET capability, the relay can decode the received information as well as generate its emission molecules using its absorbed molecules via chemical reactions. To reveal the advantages of SMIET, approximate closed-form expressions for the bit error probability and the synthesis cost of this two-hop molecular communication system are derived and then validated by particle-based simulation. Interestingly, by comparing with a conventional relay system, the SMIET relay system can be shown to achieve a lower minimum bit error probability via molecule division, and a lower synthesis cost via molecule type conversion or molecule division.

I. Introduction

Recently, molecular communication has been proposed as the potential enabler for nano-scale communication between nanomachines via the transmission of chemical signals in very small dimensions or in specific environments, such as in salt water, tunnels, or human bodies. Among all types of molecular communication paradigms, molecular communication via diffusion (MCvD) allows the information molecules to propagate freely via random Brownian motion, and it is the most simple, general and energy efficient transportation paradigm, since it does not require external energy or infrastructure.