Molecular communications systems use the presence or absence of a selected type of

molecule A molecule is a group of two or more atoms held together by attractive forces known as chemical bonds; depending on context, the term may or may not include ions which satisfy this criterion. In quantum physics, organic chemistry, and b ...

to digitally encode messages. The molecules are delivered into communications media such as air and water for transmission. The technique also is not subject to the requirement of using antennas that are sized to a specific ratio of the wavelength of the signal. Molecular communication signals can be made

biocompatible Biocompatibility is related to the behavior of biomaterials in various contexts. The term refers to the ability of a material to perform with an appropriate host response in a specific situation. The ambiguity of the term reflects the ongoing de ...

and require very little energy.

Nature

Molecular signaling is used by plants and animals, such as the

pheromones A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavio ...

that insects use for long-range signaling.

Alcohol

In 2016 researchers demonstrated the use of evaporated

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

molecules to carry messages across several meters of open space and successfully decoded the message on the other side. The presence of molecules encoded to digital 1 and their absence encoded to 0. The hardware cost around 100 US dollars.

Chemical systems

There is a wireless network that uses a chemical system as the physical medium for data transmission, instead of the environment. The signals representing electronic messages transmitted through the wireless communication channel of this wireless computer network are changes of the chemical system's chemical composition.

References

{{Authority control Telecommunications techniques Pheromones