A concentration-aware routing protocol in multi-hop molecular communication nanonetworks

A molecular communication nanonetwork is a new distributed computer network which operates at nanoscale. The simplicity of single nanomachine and the new communication paradigm which is completely different from the traditional communication technologies such as electromagnetic wave all pose challenges for the development of communication protocols in nanonetworks. In this paper, a new architecture of molecular communication nanonetworks is first provided and then on this basis, a concentration-aware (CA) routing protocol in nanonetworks is proposed, which utilizes the concentration gradient of diffused molecules to establish the path of data relay in multi-hop nanonetworks. Finally, an extended protocol combining CA protocol with a bio-inspired method, namely, quorum sensing is also proposed to satisfy the requirement of large-scale nanonetworks. The experimental results show that the concentration aware routing protocol is viable for molecular communication nanonetworks and has an excellent performance for effciently reducing the network load. © 2014 Binary Information Press