Error-control mechanisms for nano-electromagnetic communication networks

Abstract

Nanonetworks consist of nano-sized communication devices that perform simple tasks such as computation, data storage, and actuation at the nanoscale. However, communication in nanonetworks is constrained by error-prone wireless links due to severe path loss in the terahertz band (0.1-10.0 THz) and the very limited energy storage capacity of nanodevices. Therefore, efficient and effective error-control protocols are required for nanonetworks in the THz band. In this chapter, first, the related works on error control for nanonetworks are presented and investigated by considering the corresponding features. Second, a new error-control strategy with probing (ECP) mechanism for nanonetworks powered by energy harvesting is proposed. In particular, each data packet will not be transmitted until the communication of one probing packet is successful. Third, an energy state model is presented by considering the energy-harvesting-consumption process based on the extended Markov chain approach. Moreover, a probabilistic analysis of overall network traffic and multiuser interference is used by the proposed energy state model to capture dynamic network behavior. Following that, the impact of the energy consumption of different packets on state transition and the state probability distribution of nanonodes based on the above model are comprehensively investigated. Finally, the performance of the ECP mechanism is investigated and evaluated in terms of end-to-end successful packet delivery probability, end-to-end packet delay, achievable throughput, and energy consumption by comparing with other four different error-control strategies, such as automatic repeat request (ARQ), forward error correction (FEC), error prevention code (EPC), and a hybrid EPC (HEPC).