Molecular communication in one-dimensional channels with active transport and crowding

TL;DR

This paper explores how active transport mechanisms, such as molecular motors, enhance the efficiency and range of molecular communication channels compared to traditional diffusive methods.

Contribution

It investigates the impact of active transport on molecular communication efficacy, focusing on relay-based and mixed active-diffusive channels.

Findings

Active transport significantly increases communication range.

Relays and mixed transport can improve mutual information.

Potential pitfalls include channel inefficiencies and crowding effects.

Abstract

Molecular communication (MC) is a model of information transmission where the signal is transmitted by information-carrying molecules through their physical transport from a transmitter to a receiver through a communication channel. Prior efforts have identified suitable "information molecules" whose efficacy for signal transmission has been studied extensively in diffusive channels (DC). Although easy to implement, DCs are inefficient for distances longer than tens of nanometers. In contrast, molecular motor-driven nonequilibrium or active transport can drastically increase the range of communication and may permit efficient communication up to tens of micrometers. In this paper, we investigate how active transport influences the efficacy of molecular communication, quantified by the mutual information between transmitted and received signals. We consider two specific scenarios: (a) active transport through relays and (b) active transport through a mixture of active and diffusing particles. In each case, we discuss the efficacy of the communication channel and discuss their potential pitfalls.