A nanoscale communication channel with fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET)

Abstract

In this study, a novel and physically realizable nanoscale communication paradigm is introduced based on a well-known phenomenon, Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) for the first time in the literature. FRET is a nonradiative energy transfer process between fluorescent molecules based on the dipole-dipole interactions of molecules. Energy is transferred rapidly from a donor to an acceptor molecule in a close proximity such as 0 to 10 nm without radiation of a photon. Low dependency on the environmental factors, controllability of its parameters and relatively wide transfer range make FRET a promising candidate to be used for a high rate nanoscale communication channel. In this paper, the simplest form of the FRET-based molecular communication channel for a single transmitter and a single receiver nanomachine is modeled. Furthermore, using the information theoretical approach, the capacity of the point-to-point communication channel is investigated and the dependency of the capacity on some environmental and intrinsic parameters is analyzed. It is shown that the capacity can be increased by appropriately selecting the donor-acceptor pair, the medium, the intermolecular distance and the orientation of the molecules.