On the Nanoscale Electromechanical Wireless Communication in the VHF Band

Electromagnetic communication at the nanoscale has, to date, been studied in either the very high frequency (VHF) (30-300 MHz) or in the TeraHertz band (0.1-10 THz). The main focus of this paper is on electromagnetic communication in the VHF band and determining the bit error rate (BER) performance of nanoscale receivers utilizing a carbon nanotube (CNT). To determine BER performance, statistical characterization of an average-level detector output is obtained for two different receiver configurations: nanotube receiver, and tunneling nanotube receiver. For the nanotube receiver, the linear component not considered in the previous studies is included and shown to significantly affect the variance of the detector output and, also, exact analysis is performed with some significant differences to previous approximations. The tunneling nanotube receiver, for which no statistical characterization has been done to date, is analyzed. Extensive simulation studies are presented to confirm the accuracy of the theoretical results provided for the distribution of the average-level detector output. The feasible communication distances are investigated based on the BER performance by using realistic system parameters. The results reveal the potential usage of the VHF band in nanonetworks and highlight the importance of maximizing the charge at the CNT tip.