Molecular Communications / NanoNetworking

About Tuna Tuğcu

I have received my PhD degree in Computer Engineering from Boğaziçi University in 2001. After working as a post-doc for 18 months in Broadband and Wireless Networking Lab at Georgia Institute of Technology, I was appointed as a visiting professor at Georgia Institute of Technology - Savannah Campus for two years. Currently, I am a professor in the Department of Computer Engineering at Boğaziçi University. I am a faculty member of the Computer Networks Research Lab (NetLab). I also take part in Telecommunications and Informatics Technologies Research Center (TETAM) in Kandilli Campus of Boğaziçi University and the associated TAM project funded by the State Planning Organization of Turkey (DPT).

My research interests include wireless networks, with the emphasis on Cognitive Radio and 5G Networks, as well as Molecular Communications and NanoNetworking. You may follow the "Research" link on the left for my past and present projects.

 

Highlights

You may access directly to our emulators (developed by my students) on several topics in Molecular Communications by following the links below. You may run the emulators with the default parameters or you may modify the parameters as you wish.

 

Also, you may find a simple emulator that explains how instructions are executed in the CPU. This emulator was developed by a high school student, Oktay Çomu from Robert College. It aims to give a broad sense of instruction execution; it does not show exact instruction execution process. It starts with a default set of instructions loaded in the memory cells, but you may modify them by changing the content of the cells in the lower left.

RESEARCH

Previous Projects

Research Topic: Molecular Communications / NanoNetworking

PUBLICATIONS

Channel Model of Molecular Communication via Diffusion in a Vessel-like Environment Considering a Partially Covering Receiver
Molecular signal modeling of a partially counting absorbing spherical receiver

To communicate at the nanoscale, researchers have proposed molecular communication as an energy-efficient solution. The drawback to this solution is that the histogram of the molecules’ hitting times, which constitute the molecular signal at the receiver, has a heavy tail. Reducing the effects of this heavy tail, inter-symbol interference (ISI), has been the focus of most prior research. In this paper, a novel way of decreasing the ISI by defining a counting region on the spherical receiver’s surface facing toward the transmitter node is proposed. The beneficial effect comes from the fact that the molecules received from the back lobe of the receiver are more likely to be coming through longer paths that contribute to ISI. In order to justify this idea, the joint distribution of the arrival molecules with respect to angle and time is derived. Using this distribution, the channel model function is approximated for the proposed system, i.e., the partially counting absorbing spherical receiver. After validating the channel model function, the characteristics of the molecular signal are investigated and improved performance is presented. Moreover, the optimal counting region in terms of bit error rate is found analytically.

 

Molecule-as-a-frame: A frame based communication approach for nanonetworks
Optimal Reception Delay in Diffusion-Based Molecular Communication
Position-based modulation in molecular communications

TEACHING

CmpE150 - Introduction to Computing

This course provides an introduction to computer programming using the C language. It is a required course for all Faculty of Engineering students (except for CMPE students who should register the Java section) as well as CET and MATH students. Students from other departments may take the course subject to availability (via consent of the instructor). There is no web site for this course. All course content will be managed through Teaching.Codes system. You will have access to Teaching.Codes when you register the course.

All course content is accessible via Teaching.Codes system, not BOUN-Moodle. Lecutres, labs, and PS will be taught via Teaching.Codes as well as all exams and quizzes. So, make sure that you install Teaching.Codes plug-in to Eclipse.

CmpE160 - Introduction to Object Oriented Programming

This course introduces basic data structures concepts together with the object oriented programming paradigm. The course is intended solely for CMPE students who have taken CMPE150 in Java.

All course content is accessible via Teaching.Codes system, not BOUN-Moodle. Lectures, labs, and PS will be taught via Teaching.Codes as well as all exams and quizzes. So, make sure that you install Teaching.Codes plug-in to Eclipse.

CMPE322 - Operating Systems

This is an undergraduate required course in the Department of Computer Engineering. The aim of the course is to teach how the components of a computer system interact with the specific focus on operating systems. We study the basic OS concepts like process management, memory management, and storage management.

Lecture notes and additional material is available to registered students of the course via BOUN-Moodle.

 

CmpE567 (formerly CmpE591) - Broadband Wireless Networks

Broadband Wireless Networks course is being video recorded. To access the lecture videos, you may:

  1. Join the CMPE591/567 Broadband Wireless Networks Facebook Group,  or

  2. Follow my channel on YouTube.

Students registered for the course may access the lecture notes via BOUN-Moodle.

 

CMPE59G - NanoNetworking

Though nanotechnology has been a hot topic for nearly a decade, nano-machines are still far from achieving complicated tasks. Therefore, collaborative operation of nano-machines is a must for nanotechnology. Nanonetworking, i.e., communication between nano-machines, is an emerging technology that enables communication at the nanoscale.

This course aims introducing concepts and research topics on communications and networking issues among nano-machines. We will cover nanoscale communication networks ranging from molecular motors for intra-cell communication to diffusion and gap junctions for inter-cell communications. We will also have a brief look at carbon nanotube-based nanonetworks. Our focus will be mostly on bio-hybrid approaches.

Lecture notes and additional material is available to registered students of the course via BOUN-Moodle.

PHOTO GALLERY

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CONTACT

Tuna Tuğcu

Professor, Advisor to the Rector

Snail Mail address:

Boğaziçi University

Department of Computer Engineering

34342 Bebek, Istanbul, TURKEY

 

Office: BM 43 (North Campus)

Phone: +90-212-359-7611 

Fax: +90-212-287-2461

E-mail: tugcu@boun.edu.tr

Web: http://www.cmpe.boun.edu.tr/~tugcu

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/c/TunaTugcu

Previous Projects

Research Topic: Molecular Communications / NanoNetworking

BS/MS/PhD Candidates

With several new projects starting, I am looking for new members for our research group. Dedication, hard work, appetite for self-improvement, and a smiling face is a requirement. Strong background in mathematics and engineering is a plus. Cross-discipline students (especially from EE, MATH, PHYS, BIO, CHEM departments) are welcome. We have tasks for researchers are at all levels (ranging from undergraduates to MS and PhD students. (Note that our national research funds typically require Turkish nationality for salary/scholarship.)

The research topics are:

  • NanoNetworking / Molecular Communications
  • 5G / CloudRAN
  • Next-Generation Private Industrial Communications Networks (Looking for 3 PhD students for joint TÜBİTAK-2244 project with SIEMENS)

 

Please provide a detailed CV.