Concentration-encoded molecular communication in nanonetworks. Part 1: Fundamentals, issues, and challenges

Concentration-encoded molecular communication (CEMC) is a technique in molecular communication (MC) paradigm where information is encoded into the amplitude of the transmission rate of molecules at the transmitting nanomachine (TN) and, correspondingly, the transmitted information is decoded by observing the concentration of information molecules at the receiving nanomachine (RN). In this chapter, we particularly focus on the fundamentals, issues, and challenges of CEMC system towards the realization of molecular nanonetworks. CEMC is a simple encoding approach in MC using a single type of information molecules only and without having to alter the internal structure of molecules, or use distinct molecules. Despite its simplicity, CEMC suffers from several challenges that need to be addressed in detail. Although there exists some literature on MC and nanonetworks in general, in this chapter, we particularly focus on CEMC system and provide a comprehensive overview of the principles, prospects, issues, and challenges of CEMC system.