Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

This proposal concerns molecular communication. Molecular communication is a novel technique with rapidly growing interest and numerous applications, including nanoscale networking and bioengineering. In this proposal, I address the following research questions: 1. How do we enable the future applications of molecular communication? Recent work on molecular communication, including our own, has extended our knowledge in both theoretical and experimental directions. However, the field remains far from commercial applications. Addressing this issue, this part of the project will focus on two of the most important challenges that hold back progress: capacity and channel modelling. In terms of capacity, it is conventionally believed that molecular communication has limited capabilities in terms of data capacity, at most 20 bits/s. However, work by ourselves and others have shown that this is not necessarily true; depending on the modulation scheme and receiver design, current schemes are far from any practical upper bound on the capacity of molecular communication. We will explore these limits and obtain designs for high-speed molecular communication systems. In terms of channel modelling, the most application-oriented channels are also the most challenging to model, such as intra-body and mobile molecular communication channels; these channels are affected by severe inter-symbol interference and difficult-to-handle nonlinearities. We will focus on modelling and estimation techniques to improve the performance of molecular communication in these environments, extending the practicality of these methods. 2. How can molecular and EM communications interact? In molecular communication systems, biological components have been proposed at the transmitter or receiver; however, it is not clear how to interface these components with conventional communication systems, which often use electromagnetic radiation. In this project, we will design "hybrid" molecular communication systems, controlling and directly interacting with proteins, membrane channels, and other subcellular components. We propose to use recent advances in optogenetics, signal transduction, and terahertz electromagnetism to increase our control over molecular communication. This research will enable future bioengineering applications, as this work will enable system designers to create interfaces between conventional communication systems and bioengineered devices within the body. Future developments in this direction are expected to enable novel diagnostic and therapeutic technologies. Solutions to these research problems will open up new industrial applications, and will build a talent base of Canadian HQP in strategic areas of nanotechnology and bioengineering. Success in this project will improve the Canadian economy and Canadian quality of life.