Existing molecular communication systems, both theoretical and experimental, are characterized by low information rates. In this paper, inspired by time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS), we consider the design of a molecular communication system in which the channel is a vacuum and demonstrate that this method has the potential to increase achievable information rates by many orders of magnitude. We use modelling results from TOFMS to obtain arrival time distributions for accelerated ions and use them to analyze several species of ions, including hydrogen, nitrogen, argon, and benzene. We show that the achievable information rates can be increased using a velocity (Wien) filter, which reduces uncertainty in the velocity of the ions. Using a simplified communication model, we show that data rates well above 1 Gbit/s/molecule are achievable.

翻译：现有分子通信系统（包括理论模型与实验系统）均存在信息速率较低的问题。受飞行时间质谱技术启发，本文提出一种以真空为信道的分子通信系统设计方法，论证该方法有望将可达信息速率提升多个数量级。我们利用飞行时间质谱的建模结果获取加速离子的到达时间分布，并据此分析氢、氮、氩、苯等若干离子种类的特性。研究表明，通过采用速度选择滤波组件（维恩滤波器）可降低离子速度的不确定性，进而提升可达信息速率。基于简化通信模型的仿真结果表明，该系统可实现超过1 Gbit/s/分子量级的数据传输速率。