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Special issue on modelling and simulation of molecular communications
Simulation modelling Practice and Theory 42 (2014) 161–162
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Simulation modelling Practice and Theory journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/simpat
Editorial
Special issue on modelling and simulation of molecular communications
Advances in nanotechnology and biological science have entailed the formulation of molecular communication as a promising communication paradigm, which will enable biological or engineered nanoscale systems (nanomachines) to exchange information by using molecules as communication carrier. A single nanomachine will be able to accomplish a simple specific task, such as sensing, computing, actuation or data storage, in a scale ranging from one to a few hundred nanometers. However, to perform more complex tasks, a set of communicating nanomachines will also need to be deployed forming a nanonetwork. Thus, nanonetworks will expand the capabilities of nanomachines. Envisioned applications fall within different categories, such as biomedical (e.g., health monitoring, drug delivery, regeneration of biological tissues and organs), environmental monitoring (e.g., biodiversity control, pollution control), industrial processes (e.g., improved materials) and military systems (e.g., biological or chemical attack detection). Although several approaches have been proposed for the transfer of information in nanonetworks, the use of molecules has become one of the outstanding choices. In molecular communication, nanomachines mimic the behaviour of the most essential building blocks of living organisms, by exchanging molecules or particles that move via active or passive propagation. In the former case, information molecules either are conveyed to the receiver within a fluidic flow, or are bound to molecules that have motion capabilities (transport molecules or molecular motors). In the latter case, information molecules are simply diffused in the environment without using extra chemical or physical energies. However, in any case, molecular communication exhibits intrinsic properties that make it very distinct from traditional communication paradigms. In particular, the transport of molecules between the sender and receiver nanomachines is a very slow and range-limited process that mainly depends on the specific mechanism being used and the environment itself. Moreover, molecular communication is also subject to large jitter, since propagation delay is widely varying and can only be predicted statistically, and high loss rate, since information molecules can chemically react with other molecules present in the environment and thus be degraded or even destroyed before reaching the destination. Such a scenario opens new challenges to the research community as new theoretical models, computational methods and simulation approaches need to be developed in order to accurately characterize and capture the intrinsic features of molecular communication. Accordingly, the goal of this special issue is to promote and highlight research advances in the modelling and simulation of the molecular channel. Specifically, this Special Issue presents four papers that have been selected from the recommendations of qualified anonymous referees according to the evaluation process and practices of this Journal. These papers span a variety of research challenges related to the characterization and performance evaluation of the molecular channel: M.U. Mahfuz, D. Makrakis and H.T. Mouftah address the physical layer by developing a mathematical receiver model of a strength-based signal detection scheme for binary concentration-encoded molecular communication. Then, an optimum detection scheme is proposed by using a variable threshold, which improves the communication ranges of fixed threshold-based solutions. X. Wang, M.D. Higgins and M.S. Leeson evaluate the performance via simulation of five Stop-and-Wait Automatic Repeat reQuest (SW-ARQ) schemes, which are adapted to a molecular diffusion-based communication channel. The performance is evaluated with regard to average time cost and energy consumption. It is shown that all five schemes are beneficial depending upon the application scenario. A. Akkaya, G. Genc and T. Tugcu focus on the need for new simulation tools devoted to characterize the intrinsic properties of the molecular channel and evaluate its performance. Accordingly, an architecture is proposed for extending current simulation tools or developing new ones, based on the Standardized High-Level Architecture (HLA). Special emphasis is put on the scalability properties of simulation designs, since large numbers of objects and events may need to be captured. 1569-190X/$ - see front matter Ó 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.simpat.2014.01.003
162
Editorial / Simulation modelling Practice and Theory 42 (2014) 161–162
I. Llatser et al. address the features of a particular simulation tool, called N3Sim, which has been recently proposed to model diffusion-based molecular communication. Specifically, the architecture of this simulation framework and its functionalities are described in detail.
Acknowledgments As the Guest Editor of this Special Issue, I would like to thank all authors who submitted papers, all reviewers who have dedicated their valuable time and effort, and the Journal Manager, Asif I. Anwer Basha, for his support. Also, I would like to express my special gratitude to the Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Helen Karatza, for the opportunity she gave me to edit this Special Issue and for her assistance and support during the whole preparation process. Guest Editor Sebastià Galmés Available online 3 February 2014
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Simulation modelling Practice and Theory journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/simpat
Editorial
Special issue on modelling and simulation of molecular communications
Advances in nanotechnology and biological science have entailed the formulation of molecular communication as a promising communication paradigm, which will enable biological or engineered nanoscale systems (nanomachines) to exchange information by using molecules as communication carrier. A single nanomachine will be able to accomplish a simple specific task, such as sensing, computing, actuation or data storage, in a scale ranging from one to a few hundred nanometers. However, to perform more complex tasks, a set of communicating nanomachines will also need to be deployed forming a nanonetwork. Thus, nanonetworks will expand the capabilities of nanomachines. Envisioned applications fall within different categories, such as biomedical (e.g., health monitoring, drug delivery, regeneration of biological tissues and organs), environmental monitoring (e.g., biodiversity control, pollution control), industrial processes (e.g., improved materials) and military systems (e.g., biological or chemical attack detection). Although several approaches have been proposed for the transfer of information in nanonetworks, the use of molecules has become one of the outstanding choices. In molecular communication, nanomachines mimic the behaviour of the most essential building blocks of living organisms, by exchanging molecules or particles that move via active or passive propagation. In the former case, information molecules either are conveyed to the receiver within a fluidic flow, or are bound to molecules that have motion capabilities (transport molecules or molecular motors). In the latter case, information molecules are simply diffused in the environment without using extra chemical or physical energies. However, in any case, molecular communication exhibits intrinsic properties that make it very distinct from traditional communication paradigms. In particular, the transport of molecules between the sender and receiver nanomachines is a very slow and range-limited process that mainly depends on the specific mechanism being used and the environment itself. Moreover, molecular communication is also subject to large jitter, since propagation delay is widely varying and can only be predicted statistically, and high loss rate, since information molecules can chemically react with other molecules present in the environment and thus be degraded or even destroyed before reaching the destination. Such a scenario opens new challenges to the research community as new theoretical models, computational methods and simulation approaches need to be developed in order to accurately characterize and capture the intrinsic features of molecular communication. Accordingly, the goal of this special issue is to promote and highlight research advances in the modelling and simulation of the molecular channel. Specifically, this Special Issue presents four papers that have been selected from the recommendations of qualified anonymous referees according to the evaluation process and practices of this Journal. These papers span a variety of research challenges related to the characterization and performance evaluation of the molecular channel: M.U. Mahfuz, D. Makrakis and H.T. Mouftah address the physical layer by developing a mathematical receiver model of a strength-based signal detection scheme for binary concentration-encoded molecular communication. Then, an optimum detection scheme is proposed by using a variable threshold, which improves the communication ranges of fixed threshold-based solutions. X. Wang, M.D. Higgins and M.S. Leeson evaluate the performance via simulation of five Stop-and-Wait Automatic Repeat reQuest (SW-ARQ) schemes, which are adapted to a molecular diffusion-based communication channel. The performance is evaluated with regard to average time cost and energy consumption. It is shown that all five schemes are beneficial depending upon the application scenario. A. Akkaya, G. Genc and T. Tugcu focus on the need for new simulation tools devoted to characterize the intrinsic properties of the molecular channel and evaluate its performance. Accordingly, an architecture is proposed for extending current simulation tools or developing new ones, based on the Standardized High-Level Architecture (HLA). Special emphasis is put on the scalability properties of simulation designs, since large numbers of objects and events may need to be captured. 1569-190X/$ - see front matter Ó 2014 Published by Elsevier B.V. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.simpat.2014.01.003
162
Editorial / Simulation modelling Practice and Theory 42 (2014) 161–162
I. Llatser et al. address the features of a particular simulation tool, called N3Sim, which has been recently proposed to model diffusion-based molecular communication. Specifically, the architecture of this simulation framework and its functionalities are described in detail.
Acknowledgments As the Guest Editor of this Special Issue, I would like to thank all authors who submitted papers, all reviewers who have dedicated their valuable time and effort, and the Journal Manager, Asif I. Anwer Basha, for his support. Also, I would like to express my special gratitude to the Editor-in-Chief, Prof. Helen Karatza, for the opportunity she gave me to edit this Special Issue and for her assistance and support during the whole preparation process. Guest Editor Sebastià Galmés Available online 3 February 2014