Using dimensional analysis to assess scalability and accuracy in molecular communication

In this paper, we apply dimensional analysis to study a diffusive molecular communication system that uses diffusing enzymes in the propagation environment to mitigate intersymbol interference. The enzymes bind to information molecules and then degrade them so that they cannot interfere with the detection of future transmissions at the receiver. We determine when it is accurate to assume that the concentration of information molecules throughout the receiver is constant and equal to that expected at the center of the receiver. We show that a lower bound on the expected number of molecules observed at the receiver can be arbitrarily scaled over the environmental parameters, and generalize how the accuracy of the lower bound is qualitatively impacted by those parameters.