ABSTRACT
Besides mimicking bio-chemical and multi-scale communication mechanisms, molecular communication forms a theoretical framework for virus infection processes. Towards this goal, aerosol and droplet transmission has recently been modeled as a multiuser scenario. In this letter, the "infection performance" is evaluated by means of a mutual information analysis, and by an even simpler probabilistic performance measure which is closely related to absorbed viruses. The so-called infection rate depends on the distribution of the channel input events as well as on the transition probabilities between channel input and output events. The infection rate is investigated analytically for five basic discrete memoryless channel models. Numerical results for the transition probabilities are obtained by Monte Carlo simulations for pathogen-laden particle transmission in four typical indoor environments: two-person office, corridor, classroom, and bus. Particle transfer contributed significantly to infectious diseases like SARS-CoV-2 and influenza.
ABSTRACT
Molecular communication is not only able to mimic biological and chemical communication mechanisms, but also provides a theoretical framework for viral infection processes. In this tutorial, aerosol and droplet transmission is modeled as a multiuser scenario with mobile nodes, related to broadcasting and relaying. In contrast to data communication systems, in the application of pathogen-laden aerosol transmission, mutual information between nodes should be minimized. Toward this goal, several countermeasures are reasoned. The findings are supported by experimental results and by an advanced particle simulation tool. This work is inspired by the recent outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, but also applicable to other airborne infectious diseases like influenza.