Revised look at the effects of the channel model on molecular communication systems

Molecular communications, where information is passed between the transmitter ( T X ) and the receiver ( R X ) via molecules is a promising area with vast potential applications. However, the infancy of the topic within the overall taxonomy of communications has meant that to date, several channel models are in press, each of which is applied under various constraints and/or assumptions. Amongst them is that the arrival of molecules in different time slots can be, or is, considered as independent events. In practice, this assumption is not accurate, as the molecules arriving in the previous slot reduce the possible number of molecules in the next slot and hence make them correlated. A more realistic performance of a molecular communication is analysed assuming correlated events. The key result shown is that the widely used model assuming independent events significantly overestimates the error rates in the channel. This result is thus critical to researchers who focus on energy use at the nanoscale, as the new analysis provides a more realistic prediction, and therefore less energy will be needed to attain a desired error rate, increasing system feasibility.