Equivalent Discrete-Time Channel Modeling for Molecular Communication With Emphasize on an Absorbing Receiver

Area of Science:

• Molecular Communication
• Biophysics
• Information Theory

Background:

• Diffusion-based molecular communication (DBMC) models often rely on computationally intensive random walk simulations.
• Adapting established communication algorithms to DBMC is challenging due to model complexity.

Purpose of the Study:

• Introduce the Equivalent Discrete-Time Channel Model (EDTCM) to DBMC, focusing on absorbing receivers and first passage time.
• Enhance the accessibility of DBMC by leveraging a well-known model from wireless communications.
• Reduce computational complexity in DBMC simulations and adapt classical algorithms like BCJR.

Main Methods:

• Formulation of the exact Equivalent Discrete-Time Channel Model (EDTCM) for DBMC with absorbing receivers.
• Development and analysis of three approximations: binomial, Gaussian, and Poisson.
• Adaptation of the Bahl-Cocke-Jelinek-Raviv (BCJR) algorithm to the exact EDTCM and its approximations.

Main Results:

• The EDTCM offers significant computational complexity reduction compared to random walk simulators.
• The proposed approximations provide viable alternatives for further complexity reduction.
• The adapted BCJR algorithm demonstrates effective performance on the EDTCM and its approximations.

Conclusions:

• The EDTCM framework enhances DBMC accessibility and facilitates algorithm adaptation from wireless communications.
• Approximations of the EDTCM maintain accuracy while further reducing computational load.
• The adapted BCJR algorithm shows promise for efficient information decoding in DBMC systems.