Towards an information- and communication-theoretic understanding of molecular communication

对分子通讯的信息和通讯理论的理解

• 批准号: 341551-2011
• 负责人: Eckford, Andrew
• 金额: $ 2.04万
• 依托单位: York University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=549392
• 关键词: Towards; information; communication; theoretic; understanding

Recent work in micro/nano electromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS) have demonstrated the feasibility of manufacturing devices with very small dimensions. Meanwhile, developments in systems biology have demonstrated the feasibility of engineering microorganisms to perform arbitrary tasks. Both these techniques may enable revolutionary applications, such as in advanced lab-on-chip systems, environmental monitoring, targeted drug delivery, and many others. However, these applications generally require swarms of micro/nanoscale devices, so before any new and disruptive applications can be realized, ways must be found for these swarms to communicate in order to coordinate their actions and report their findings. The emerging discipline of molecular communication, which mimics the existing control and communication mechanisms among microorganisms, provides a solution to the communication problem. Until recently, molecular communication was unknown in the engineering literature, but in the past few years a growing body of experimental literature has focused on molecular communication: many recent works have proposed (and implemented) practical systems. On the other hand, from a theoretical standpoint, remarkably little is known about information rates and system design. Addressing this gap, the proposed research will explore molecular communication from an information-theoretic and communication-theoretic perspective, with two specific objectives: (1) find physically realistic and mathematically tractable system models for molecular communication, in order to apply mathematical tools from information and communication theory; and (2) find practical and low-complexity communication techniques, while analyzing them to find the information rates that they can support. These objectives will demonstrate the feasibility of molecular communication, and influence system construction by providing a theoretical basis for future designs. The proposed project builds on my preliminary work, and represents a unique opportunity for a Canadian research team to take a leading role in this rapidly emerging field.

最近在微/纳机电系统（MEMS/NEMS）中的工作已经证明了制造具有非常小尺寸的器件的可行性。同时，系统生物学的发展已经证明了工程微生物执行任意任务的可行性。这两种技术都可以实现革命性的应用，例如先进的芯片实验室系统，环境监测，靶向药物输送等。然而，这些应用通常需要大量的微/纳米级器件，因此在实现任何新的和破坏性的应用之前，必须找到这些群进行通信的方法，以便协调它们的行动并报告它们的发现。新兴的分子通讯学科模拟了微生物之间现有的控制和通讯机制，为通讯问题提供了解决方案。直到最近，分子通信在工程文献中还是未知的，但在过去的几年里，越来越多的实验文献都集中在分子通信上：许多最近的工作已经提出（并实现）了实用的系统。另一方面，从理论的角度来看，对信息速率和系统设计知之甚少。针对这一空白，本研究将从信息论和通信论的角度探讨分子通信，具体目标有两个：（1）找到物理上真实的和数学上易于处理的分子通信系统模型，以便应用信息和通信理论的数学工具;以及（2）找到实用且低复杂度的通信技术，同时分析它们以找到它们可以支持的信息速率。这些目标将证明分子通讯的可行性，并通过为未来的设计提供理论基础来影响系统的构建。拟议的项目建立在我的初步工作，并代表了一个独特的机会，加拿大的研究团队在这个迅速崛起的领域发挥主导作用。