Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Applications of Molecular Communication Systems

  • Living reference work entry
  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Wireless Networks

Synonyms

Molecular, biological, and multiscale communications; Nano-networks

Definitions

A molecular communication system is defined as a system of bio-nanomachines that transmit and receive information using chemical signals or molecules. A bio-nanomachine that constitutes a molecular communication system is made of biomaterials with or without non-biological materials, approximately 1–100 μm in size, and capable of processing molecules. Examples of molecular communication systems are naturally occurring biological systems such as bacterial populations, epithelial sheets, and immune systems where biological cells represent bio-nanomachines. Examples of molecular communication systems also include artificial or synthetic biological systems designed for specific applications such as biomolecular sensing and targeted drug delivery.

Historical Background

Molecular communication was proposed as an unexplored research area at the intersection of communications engineering and biology...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abdi A, Einolghozati A, Fekri F (2017) Quantization in molecular signal sensing via biological agents. IEEE Trans Mol Biol Multi-Scale Commun 3(2):106–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akyildiz IF, Jornet JM (2010) The Internet of nano-things. IEEE Wirel Commun 17(6):58–63

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akyildiz IF, Pierobon M, Balasubramaniam S, Koucheryavy Y (2015) The Internet of bio-nano things. IEEE Commun Mag 53:32–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bush SF, Paluh JL, Piro G, Rao V, Prasad RV, Eckford A (2015) Defining communication at the bottom. IEEE Trans Mol Biol Multi-Scale Commun 1(1):90–96

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Enomoto A, Moore M, Nakano T, Egashira R, Suda T, Kayasuga A, Kojima H, Sakakibara H, Oiwa K (2006) A molecular communication system using a network of cytoskeletal filaments. In: Proceedings of 2006 NSTI nanotechnology conference and trade show, vol 1, pp 725–728

    Google Scholar 

  • Farsad N, Eckford AW, Hiyama S, Moritani Y (2012) On-chip molecular communication: analysis and design. IEEE Trans Nanobiosci 11(3):304–314

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farsad N, Guo W, Eckford AW (2013) Tabletop molecular communication: text messages through chemical signals. PLOS ONE 8(12):e82935

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Felicetti L, Femminella M, Reali G, Nakano T, Vasilakos AV (2014) TCP-like molecular communications. IEEE J Sel Areas Commun (JSAC) 32(12):2354–2367

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hiyama S, Inoue T, Shima T, Moritani Y, Suda T, Sutoh K (2008a) Autonomous loading, transport, and unloading of specified cargoes by using DNA hybridization and biological motor-based motility. Small 4(4):410–415

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hiyama S, Moritani Y, Suda T (2008b) Molecular transport system in molecular communication. NTT DOCOMO Tech J 10(3):49–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Kadloor S, Adve RS, Eckford AW (2012) Molecular communication using Brownian motion with drift. IEEE Trans Nanobiosci 11(2):89–99

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kiourti A, Psathas KA, Nikita KS (2014) Implantable and ingestible medical devices with wireless telemetry functionalities: a review of current status and challenges. Bioelectromagnetics 35(1):1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lio P, Balasubramaniam S (2012) Opportunistic routing through conjugation in bacteria communication nanonetwork. Nano Commun Netw 3(1):36–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahfuz MU, Makrakis D, Mouftah HT (2010) On the characterization of binary concentration-encoded molecular communication in nanonetworks. Nano Commun Netw 1(4):289–300

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moritani Y, Nomura S-iM, Morita I, Akiyoshi K (2010) Direct integration of cell-free-synthesized connexin-43 into liposomes and hemichannel formation. FEBS J 277:3343–3352

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakano T (2017) Molecular communication: a 10 year retrospective. IEEE Trans Mole Biol Multi-Scale Commun 3(2):71–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakano T, Koujin T, Suda T, Hiraoka Y, Haraguchi T (2009) A locally induced increase in intracellular Ca2+ propagates cell-to-cell in the presence of plasma membrane ATPase inhibitors in non-excitable cells. FEBS Lett 583(22):3593–3599

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakano T, Moore M, Wei F, Vasilakos AV, Shuai JW (2012) Molecular communication and networking: opportunities and challenges. IEEE Trans NanoBiosci 11(2):135–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nakano T, Kobayashi S, Suda T, Okaie Y, Hiraoka Y, Haraguchi T (2014) Externally controllable molecular communication. IEEE J Sel Areas Commun (JSAC) 32(12):2417–2431

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Okaie Y, Nakano T, Hara T, Nishio S (2016) Target detection and tracking by bionanosensor networks. SpringerBriefs in computer science. Springer, Singapore

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Pierobon M, Akyildiz IF (2013) Capacity of a diffusion-based molecular communication system with channel memory and molecular noise. IEEE Trans Inf Theory 59(2):942–954

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Rogers U, shung Koh M (2016) Parallel molecular distributed detection with brownian motion. IEEE Trans NanoBiosci 15(8):871–880

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tavakkoli N, Azmi P, Mokari N (2017) Performance evaluation and optimal detection of relay-assisted diffusion-based molecular communication with drift. IEEE Trans NanoBiosci 16(1):34–42

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wei G, Bogdan P, Marculescu R (2013) Bumpy rides: modeling the dynamics of chemotactic interacting bacteria. IEEE J Sel Areas Commun (JSAC) 31(12): 879–890

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Osaka University, Suita, Japan

    Tadashi Nakano, Yutaka Okaie & Takahiro Hara

Authors
  1. Tadashi Nakano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yutaka Okaie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Takahiro Hara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tadashi Nakano .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo , Waterloo, ON, Canada

    Xuemin (Sherman) Shen

  2. Faculty of Business and Information Technology, University of Ontario Institute of Technology, Oshawa, ON, Canada

    Xiaodong Lin

  3. Dpt.of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Nebraska–Lincoln, Omaha, NE, USA

    Kuan Zhang

Section Editor information

  1. University of Warwick, UK, Warwick, UK

    Adam Noel

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this entry

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this entry

Nakano, T., Okaie, Y., Hara, T. (2019). Applications of Molecular Communication Systems. In: Shen, X., Lin, X., Zhang, K. (eds) Encyclopedia of Wireless Networks. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32903-1_222-1

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32903-1_222-1

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-32903-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-32903-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Computer SciencesReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation