Strength-based optimum signal detection in concentration-encoded pulse-transmitted OOK molecular communication with stochastic ligand-receptor binding

In this paper, a strength-based optimum signal detection scheme for binary concentration-encoded molecular communication (CEMC) system has been presented. In CEMC, a single type of information molecule is assumed to carry the information from the transmitting nanomachine (TN), through the propagation medium, to the receiving nanomachine (RN) in the form of received concentration of information molecules at the location of the RN. We consider a pair of nanomachines communicating by means of on–off keying (OOK) transmission protocol in a three-dimensional ideal (i.e. free) diffusion-based unbounded propagation environment. First, based on stochastic chemical kinetics of the reaction events between ligand molecules and receptors, we develop a mathematical receiver model of strength-based detection scheme for OOK CEMC system. Using an analytical approach, we explain the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves of the receiver thus developed. Finally, we propose a variable threshold-based detection scheme and explain its communication range and rate dependent characteristics. We show that it provides an improvement in the communication ranges compared to fixed threshold-based detection scheme. (Part of this paper has been peer-reviewed and published in BWCCA-2012 conference in Victoria, BC, 12–14 November, 2012 [20].)