Nano Communication Networks

Nano communication networks by definition is a communicating network made of "nanoradios" which at the core is a single molecule whose key circuitry consists of a single carbon nanotube that can receive radio signals and communicate among themselves.Physicist Richard Feynman once presciently stated that "there is plenty of room at the bottom" in his famous lecture which is considered a classic at the annual meeting of the American Physical Society at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) with reference to the importance of atomic scale, and communication that is needed down there. Presently there is a growing trend of practical results from diverse fields that both leverages and overcomes the communication barriers of the nanoscale environment which includes random carbon nanotube networks, calcium signaling, molecular motors and quantum networking to name a few. Nanocom networks focuses upon ad hoc communication networking at the nanoscale using all of these techniques.This new area technology is been touted to lead a major new revolution in the wireless communication industry in the coming decades by many leading academic communities across the globe.

Giant advances and improvements in the field of nanotechnology over the last decade and with the availability of new nanotech tools that are allowing researchers to practically fabricate very small devices have resulted in the vision of nanonetworks composed of a number of nanoradios communicating with each other for a specific nanoscale application and the practical realization of "Network on Chip" or NoC which is similar to the concept of the existing "System on Chip" or SoC concept,which would require this level of radio communication between the tiny embedded elements within the chip.All wireless devices, from mobile phones to environmental sensors,stand to benefit from this as nanoradios require smaller electronic component­s, would reduce power consumption, extend battery life and improve efficiency and thus ensuring a new renaissance in all the future communication domains.

Many nanocom paradigms that are currently being researched and standardized for the industry are as follows:-

• Architectures, topologies and algorithms for nanoscale communication:-Network architectures,Networks-on-Chip (NoC),topologies, coverage and connectivity, synchronization, relay, broadcast, and multiple-access mechanisms, routing/addressing in nanonetworks, reliable information coding and communication, error control, energy efficiency.
• Modeling and analysis of nanocommunication:–Physical characterization/modeling of nanoscale interconnects, and programmable or configurable devices, statistical mechanics modeling of nano-communications, applications of complex network theory, network coding and information flow for nanonetworks, network calculus and queuing theoretical analysis.
• Nanoscale ad hoc and sensor networks:–Communication systems and protocols for nanoscale ad hoc networks, nano-sensor networks, networks of micro/nanorobotic systems, self-organizing nanobio networks, molecular sensing and sampling.
• Future nanonetworks with new nano-machines and interconnects:-Nanonetworks deployed with carbon-nanotubes (CNTs),nanowires, nanoparticles, graphene devices, nanoscale optical, wireless, and electromechanical communication technologies,quantum entanglement with nanoscale photon detectors.
• Information theoretical approaches to nanoscale communication:–Information theory and network information theory aspects of nano-networks, modeling, capacity bounds and theorems for various nanoscale communication channels, nanoscale transceiver and modulation optimization, nanoscale and molecular source and channel coding.
• Molecular communication:–Sparse-molecule communication, short/mid/long range molecular communications for nanonetworks, molecular motors, calcium signaling, communication via diffusive processes, single-nanotube radios, quantum molecular entanglement, stigmergic communication techniques.
• Quantum communication networks:-Hybrid classical quantum communication networks, repeaters, teleportation,entanglement swapping, nanoscale photon detectors, quantum dot networks, quantum electron transport in nanoscale semiconductor structures, nano-mechanical quantum communication systems.
• Applications for nanoscale communications:–Communication among molecular scale chemical and biosensors, nano-sensors and actuators network, in-body nanonetworks, heterogeneous bio-nano networks.

A farsighted early foray into the above mentioned nanocom fields by the technological companies would find themselves ensuring a profitable solid position as leaders later in this upcoming new wireless communication paradigm.

Protoype Radio:

Using carrier waves in the commercially relevant 40-400 MHz range and both frequency and amplitude modulation (FM and AM), the Berkeley Lab team has demonstrated successful music and voice reception with the nanotube radio. After being received, filtered, amplified, and demodulated by the nanotube radio, the signal was further amplified by a current preamplifier, sent to an audio loudspeaker and recorded. Click here to listen to a recording and see the radio in operation.

The Berkeley Lab nanotube radio consists of an individual CNT mounted to an electrode in close proximity to a counter electrode. Both the electrodes and nanotube are in a vacuum, typically below 10 -7 Torr. A direct current voltage (dc) source, such as from a battery or solar cell array, is connected to the electrodes and powers the radio. The dc voltage negatively charges the tip of the nanotube, tensioning it as desired to tune into oscillating electric fields. Thus the radio can be tuned while in operation to receive only a preselected band of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Applications:

• All-in-one radio receiver for cell phones/wireless networks/GPS and other electronic devices
• Radio controlled devices that can exist inside the body, e.g. used as drug release triggers, diagnostic instrumentation, interfacing with muscle or brain function
• Ultra small hearing aid
• RF antenna, tunable pass filter, amplifier, or demodulator
• Mass spectrometer
• Chemical sensor

Advantages:

• Orders of magnitude smaller than previous radios – can fit inside a living cell
• Eliminates wiring/thermal problems associated with unifying a micro or nano-scale radio system
• Extremely low power requirements
• Can be tuned after fabrication and during operation
• Can be manufactured individually or in arrays
• Smaller, more inexpensive and more sensitive than state-of-the-art mass spectrometers or chemical sensors.

The carbon nanotube radio receiver was first demonstrated in 2007 and is now available for licensing or collaborative research. Interested Parties should contact the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.http://www.lbl.gov/Tech-Transfer/about/contactus.html.
Reference numbers: IB-2431, 2432, 2433, 2434, 2435. Published patent application WO/2009/048695 available at www.wipo.int.