What is
the internet of nanoscale things?
Nanoscale technology is enabling the development of devices as
small as one to a few hundred nanometers (10^-9 meters). To give a sense of
scale, a strand of human DNA is roughly 2.5
nanometers in diameter. At this scale, a nanomachine is defined as the most
basic functional unit and able to perform simple tasks such as sensing or
actuation.
The U.S.
Coordination and information sharing among several nanomachines will
expand the potential applications of individual devices both in terms of
complexity and range of operation, according to
the Georgia Institute of Technology. The resulting nano-networks
will be able to cover larger areas, and reach hard-to-reach locations.
Moreover, the interconnection of nanoscale devices with classical networks and
the internet defines a new networking paradigm, to which Georgia Institute of
Technology refers to as the “internet of nano-things.”
Use cases
Some potential applications include:
In-body networks monitoring real-time blood, sickness and
breath tests;
Use in public locations to monitor the spread of viruses and
diseases; and
Hooked up to wearable health and environmental trackers.
When it arrives, the internet of nanoscale things could provide much
more detailed, inexpensive and up-to-date pictures of our cities, homes,
factories – even our bodies. Today traffic lights, wearables or surveillance
cameras are getting connected to the internet with billions of expected
nanosensors harvesting huge amounts of real-time information and beaming it up
to the cloud, according to Scientific American.
Methods
of communication
It is still not clear how nanomachines are going to communicate.
Georgia Tech presents two main alternatives for communication in the nanoscale,
namely molecular communication and nano-electromagnetic communication:
Molecular communication:
This is defined as the transmission and reception of
information encoded in molecules. Molecular transceivers are expected to be
easily integrated in nano-devices due to their size and domain of operation.
These transceivers are able to react to specific molecules, and to release
others as a response to an internal command or after performing some type of
processing.
Nano-electromagnetic communication:
This is defined as the transmission and reception of
electromagnetic radiation from components based on novel nanomaterials.
The unique properties observed in these materials will decide the
specific bandwidth for emission of electromagnetic radiation, the time lag of
the emission and the magnitude of the emitted power for a given input energy.
Network
architecture for IoNT
Georgia Tech proposes the study of the terahertz band for
nano-electromagnetic communication and provides a network architecture for nano
devices.
In intrabody networks, nanomachines such as nanosensors and
nanoactuators deployed inside the human body are remotely controlled from the
macroscale and over the internet by an external user such as a health care
provider. The nanoscale is the natural domain of molecules, proteins, DNA,
organelles and the major components of cells. Amongst others, existing
biological nanosensors and nanoactuators provide an interface between
biological phenomena and electronic nano-devices, which can be exploited
through this new networking paradigm.
In the interconnected office, every single element normally
found in an office and even its internal components are provided of a
nanotransceiver which allows them to be permanently connected to the internet.
The use cases in these different environments shows
that nanotechnology has the ability to create new applications in the
biomedical, industrial and military fields as well as in consumer and
industrial goods.
Demands
for nano IoT
These are factors, according to Georgia Tech, that will increase demand
for nano devices:
Convenience and almost seamless deployment;
Tiny and nonobtrusive devices;
The possibility to harvest vibrational, mechanical or even
electromagnetic energy from the environment;
Ultra-low power consumption; and
Reasonable computing capabilities.
Here are the physical components required for the internet of nano
things architecture:
Nano-nodes
The smallest and simplest nanomachines, they are able to
perform simple computation, have limited memory and can only transmit over very
short distances, mainly because of their reduced energy and limited communication
capabilities. Biological nanosensor nodes inside the human body and
nanomachines with communication capabilities integrated in all types of things
such as books, keys, or paper folders are good examples of nano-nodes.
Nano-routers
Comparatively larger computational resources than nano-nodes
and are suitable for aggregating information coming from limited nanomachines.
In addition, nano-routers also can control the behavior of nano-nodes by
exchanging very simple control commands (on/off, sleep, read value, etc.).
However, this increase in capabilities involves an increase in their size, and
this makes their deployment more invasive. Nano-micro interface devices are
able to aggregate the information coming from nanorouters, to convey it to the
microscale, and vice versa.
Gateway
Enables the remote control of the entire system over the
internet. For example, in an intrabody network scenario, an advanced cellphone
can forward the information it receives from a nano-micro interface in our
wrist to our health care provider. In the interconnected office, a modem-router
can provided this functionality. Despite the interconnection of microscale
devices, the development of gateways and the network management over the
internet are still open research areas, in the remaining of this article we
mainly focus on the communication challenges among nanomachines.
Technologies
enabling smaller data collection
Scientists have started shrinking sensors from millimeters or microns
in size to the nanometer scale, small enough to circulate within living bodies
and to mix directly into construction materials. There are five new
developments that are helping enable the shrinking of sensors and collection of
data from nano devices, according to Computer Business Review.
Nanotubes
Carbon nanotubes are a nanotechnology constructed with a
length-to-diameter ratio of up to 132,000,000:1.
Uses of the solution span from incorporation in portable electronics to
help fighting cancer and creating artificial muscles.
Bleeding
plastic
Scientists have also developed a bleeding plastic with self-healing
capabilities that could put an end to nearly anything getting broken, including
cars, airplanes or everyday devices.
Nano-nodes
Nano-nodes are nanomachines with the capability to perform simple
computation, but could be used in the future to make nearly every object and
person connected to the internet.
In a whitepaper from IEEE Wireless Communications, Ian Akyildiz and
Josep Jornet from the Georgia Institute of Technology explained that nano-nodes
have limited memory, and can only transmit over very short distances, mainly
because of their reduced energy and limited communication capabilities.
Nanoantennas
Nanoantennas are a new emerging technology that could help power
wearables, smarten up buildings or keep lights on.
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