Addressing by beacon coordinates using molecular communication

Abstract

A transmitter nanomachine performs molecular communication to transmit information to a receiver nanomachine using molecules (e.g. calcium ions, DNA) as the transmission medium. Existing approaches use the type of molecule to address receivers within a local broadcast area. In the proposed system, molecular beacons provide distance measurements using molecular communication to establish a coordinate system (e.g. molecular beacons form a concentration gradient using a few types of beacon molecules). Transmitters then address a receiver at a location by the distance from the receiver to each beacon. A transmitter communicates by encapsulating information into a molecular device capable of active transport and distance measurement (e.g. a bacterium performs chemotaxis to a location with the corresponding concentrations of each type of beacon molecule). This paper describes a model of the proposed system, simulation model for the example of bacterial chemotaxis, and measurement of success rate and delay.