Diffusion-Based Multiple Access by Nano-Transmitters to a Micro-Receiver

Interaction with a biological system can be enhanced by embedding nano-scale devices into the biological system and externally gathering data from and/or controlling the nano-scale devices. One potential approach to interact with such nano-scale devices is through intermediate micro-scale devices which communicate by molecular communication with the nano-scale devices. Multiple nano-scale devices transmit a type of molecule to represent bits of information and a micro-scale device decodes information from the concentration characteristics of the type of molecule. Since diffusion is a slow process, transmissions interfere and statistical methods can be applied to the detected concentration to more successfully receive bits. We model information transmission from nano-scale devices to the micro-scale receiver. We then numerically examine the impact of varying transmitter scheduling and signal strength on the bit error rate.