Molecular communication in fluid media: The additive inverse Gaussian noise channel

TL;DR

This paper develops a theoretical model for molecular communication in fluid media using an additive inverse Gaussian noise channel, providing bounds on capacity and insights into error reduction techniques.

Contribution

It introduces the inverse Gaussian noise channel model for molecular communication, with capacity bounds, a maximum likelihood receiver, and analysis of multiple molecules reducing error.

Findings

Channel modeled by inverse Gaussian noise is suitable for fluid media communication.

Multiple molecules reduce error rate similarly to diversity in wireless systems.

No single SNR-like measure exists for this channel.

Abstract

We consider molecular communication, with information conveyed in the time of release of molecules. The main contribution of this paper is the development of a theoretical foundation for such a communication system. Specifically, we develop the additive inverse Gaussian (IG) noise channel model: a channel in which the information is corrupted by noise with an inverse Gaussian distribution. We show that such a channel model is appropriate for molecular communication in fluid media - when propagation between transmitter and receiver is governed by Brownian motion and when there is positive drift from transmitter to receiver. Taking advantage of the available literature on the IG distribution, upper and lower bounds on channel capacity are developed, and a maximum likelihood receiver is derived. Theory and simulation results are presented which show that such a channel does not have a single quality measure analogous to signal-to-noise ratio in the AWGN channel. It is also shown that the use of multiple molecules leads to reduced error rate in a manner akin to diversity order in wireless communications. Finally, we discuss some open problems in molecular communications that arise from the IG system model.