SMIET: Simultaneous Molecular Information and Energy Transfer

The performance of communication systems is fundamentally limited by the loss of energy through propagation and circuit inefficiencies. The emergence of the Internet of Nano Things ecosystem means there is a need to design and build nanoscale energy efficient communication subsystems. In this article, we show that it is possible to achieve ultra low energy communications at the nanoscale, if diffusive molecules are used for carrying data. While the energy of electromagnetic waves will inevitably decay as a function of transmission distance and time, the energy in individual molecules does not. Over time, the receiver has an opportunity to recover some, if not all, of the molecular energy transmitted. The article demonstrates the potential of ultra-low energy SMIET through point-to-point systems, two different nano-relay systems, and multiple access systems. It also discusses the benefits of crowd energy harvesting compared to traditional wavebased systems.