Impacts of SW-ARQ on the Latency and Reliability of Diffusive, In-Sequence Molecular Communication

Abstract

This paper studies a feedback-based communication protocol for bio-nanomachines to reliably transmit and receive a series of molecular messages through diffusive transports in a particular order. Based on the Stop-and- Wait Automatic Repeat Request (SW-ARQ) mechanism, the proposed protocol leverages redundant molecule transmissions, molecule delivery acknowledgement and timeout-based retransmissions to enhance the latency and reliability of in-sequence molecular communication. Simulation results demonstrate that the protocol substantially improves latency, jitter and transmission failure rate. They also illustrate how environmental and protocol parameters impact those communication performance metrics.