Contribution to the design of nanodevices and communication protocols for nanonetworks in the THz band

Abstract

[SPA] Esta tesis doctoral se presenta bajo la modalidad de compendio de publicaciones. [ENG] This doctoral dissertation has been presented in the form of thesis by publication. Electromagnetic (EM) nano-communications is a new paradigm encompassing all concerns related to the exchange of information among devices operating in the Terahertz band (0.1-10 THz). A nano-network infrastructure consisting of a high number of nano-devices should be designed to ensure robust, reliable, and coordinated data transmission. This will enable a plethora of forthcoming applications and services in different research fields, such as medicine, environmental science, on-chip communications, or software-defined materials, which will lead to outstanding advances. Nevertheless, EM nano-communications is a recent paradigm that lacks the maturity of other well-established communication fields, so the presented thesis contributes to this maturation process by researching both the hardware and the communication mechanisms upon which THz-based nano-networks could operate. As a Thesis by compilation, the 7 articles published during this Ph.D. program are presented and commented. Each of such articles looks into different key aspects that help closing the gap between theory and practice in THz-based nano-communications. Thus, in the first two chapters of this document, the reader will be introduced to the context and objectives of the thesis. In particular, the second chapter is divided into two subsections: general objectives, which are set into the global background; and specific objectives, grouped by publication. In the next seven chapters, the seven corresponding articles are presented and commented. For each of them, a brief summary, the methodology followed, an overview of the results and contributions, and final conclusions are included. Finally, in the two last chapters, the final conclusions and future lines of this thesis are discussed.