IEEE Draft Recommended Practice for Nanoscale and Molecular Communication Framework

This recommended practice provides a definition, terminology, conceptual model, and standard metrics for ad hoc network communication at the nanoscale. The physical properties of nanoscale communication extend human-engineered networking in ways beyond that defined in existing communication standards including in vivo, sub-cellular medical communication, smart materials and sensing at the molecular level, and the ability to operate in environments that would be too harsh for macroscale communication mechanisms to operate. Nanoscale communication also requires collaboration among a highly-diverse set of disciplines with differing definitions and connotations for some terms, thus a common terminology is required in order to aid in inter-discipline collaboration. A common framework for thinking abstractly about nanoscale communication aids in defining and relating research and development effort. Components of the framework are independent enough to allow them to be developed in relative isolation, yet the components are also interoperable. Example mappings between specific nanoscale communication use-cases and the common framework serve to illustrate the recommended practice. Simulation code implementing the common framework for both wireless and molecular nanoscale communication provides an embodiment of the common framework demonstrating precisely how the framework is applied.