The digital transformation of the 21st century has been made possible by the progress in IoT (Internet of Things), which has made connectivity seamless and turbo-charged data processing.
With the latest advancements in nanotechnology, a new field known as the Internet of Nano Things (IoNT) has taken centre stage, becoming key to several new applications in major technical fields.
Image Credit: metamorworks/Shutterstock.com
In 2010, data scientists conceptualized a framework that has become the foundation of the IoNT.
Researchers introduced a new networking system that could connect nanoscale devices to existing communication systems, laying the groundwork for what we now call IoNT. This framework makes it possible to plug nanotechnology, through tiny devices and sensors, into today's networks.1
In simple terms, the IoNT is about embedding nano-sensors into devices so they can communicate quickly and reliably within established networks. These nanosensors can collect very fine-grained data, picking up tiny changes and fluctuations, even in remote or hard-to-reach places.
Often called “nano-things”, these sensors are linked using nanoscale communication technologies that support efficient data collection.2
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What makes IoNT different from IoT?
Although IoNT and IoT share a similar goal: connecting devices so they can sense, process, and share data, their primary distinction is that the devices, such as the sensors and robots used during IoNT operations, are nanoscopic, ranging between 0.1 to 100 nm.
By using numerous nanosensors, IoNT can gather accurate, reliable information and dramatically extend what traditional IoT systems can do. This also opens up the possibility of building very energy-efficient devices.3
IoNT Architecture: Essential for Data Communication
Overall Building Blocks of an IoNT Architecture
The basic IoNT architecture includes four key components:
- Nanosensors and actuators
- Communication protocols
- Data processing and storage frameworks
- Network Infrastructure
Nanosensors and actuators detect and measure specific parameters, which can include temperature, chemical concentrations, or biological markers, and carry out the required operations resulting from these measurements.
Communication protocols can include wireless technologies like Bluetooth, other radio-based methods, or even wired approaches. These systems enable data exchange between the nanoscale devices and the rest of the network.4
Data processing and storage systems are also essential. Researchers are now working on nano-capacitor-based memory and nanoscale quantum computing systems to support very fast data processing in IoNT environments.4
Finally, the Network Infrastructure comprises an interconnected system of specialized routers, switches, and Information Communication Technology (ICT) networking devices. The network enables fast data transfer between nanodevices and larger, complex systems on the internet. 5
What Makes up a Single Nanodevice?
In a single nanodevice, there is a control, communication, reproduction, and power unit.
The control unit collects the essential environmental data and regulates all the interconnected nano-machine components. The communication unit is a specialized subsystem developed with the purpose of exchanging data at the nanoscale.
The reproduction unit is tasked with the fabrication and connection of nano-machine components using external elements, essentially making up the nanomachine. The power unit captures energy from various external sources, which is used to provide energy to all the components of the nano-machine for performing operations.6
Key Parts of IoNT Network Infrastructure
Even though IoNT involves highly specialized systems, the overall network is built from four main components:
- Nano nodes
- Nano routers
- Nano-micro interface devices
- Gateways
Nano-nodes are the simplest and smallest nanomachines in the network. They can perform basic data processing and communication over short distances - for example, nanoscale biosensors used to monitor biological or environmental parameters act as nano-nodes.
Nano-routers outperform nano-nodes when it comes to computational power, aggregating the data and information received from nano-nodes. These routers can control the behavior of nano-nodes by providing control commands, like switching from the ON state to the OFF state.
The interface devices collect the incoming data from the nano-routers and pass it onto the microscale.
Their hybrid mode of communication enables them to use nano-communication protocols at the nanoscale while transitioning to conventional data communication protocols during standard communication operations.
The last components, Gateway devices, are in some ways the most powerful, as they support the entire IoNT system using the internet, bridging between nanoscale and network protocols.7
How can nano sensors be used in medicine? Find out more here.
Communication of Nano Devices Using Electromagnetic Signals
Electromagnetic nano-networks are becoming a well-established way for nano-devices to exchange data in IoNT systems. At the heart of this approach is nano-radio, a compact comms system built into the nanomachine. It typically consists of a transceiver and an antenna.
The transceiver consists of a Digital Signal Processing (DSP) unit at the backend and an analog front-end for the user.
The transceiver generates, amplifies, modifies, and filters electromagnetic signals to transfer information between nano-devices, while the antenna directs and radiates the electromagnetic signals generated by the transceiver, operating within a specific bandwidth.
Recently, magnetoelectric antennas made up of piezoelectric materials have drawn a lot of interest. During transmission, a modulated voltage is applied, leading to a strain on the piezoelectric material.
The magnetoelectric effect causes this mechanical deformation to produce a time-varying magnetic field, which in turn generates a radiating electromagnetic wave that carries the data.
When receiving the signal, the incoming electromagnetic wave creates a magnetic field around the antenna, which then produces a specified strain in the piezoelectric material, resulting in a voltage output.
These magnetoelectric antennas are much smaller in size than traditional antennas, and the implementation of Nano-Electro Mechanical System (NEMS) technology is enabling the development of highly efficient antennas for modern IoNT systems.8
A Novel Lightweight Identity Authentication Protocol for Next-Gen IoNT Systems
When taking data down to this nanoscale level, traditional cryptographic methods are often too heavy. IoNT devices are limited by power and resources. However, because of a growing cyber-awareness and risk of attacks, researchers are working on lightweight yet robust security protocols designed specifically for nano-sensors.
A recent study introduced an ultra-lightweight identity authentication protocol that can run within the tight power budget of modern nano-sensors.9
The protocol has four main stages. The initial secure initialization setup phase is designed to safely integrate a symmetric key and an identifier for each device. It is followed by a mutual authentication phase developed and operated using lightweight hash and XOR operations.
The third security phase, titled the “Stateless Session Refresh,” comprises a refresh mechanism ensuring that the risks due to desynchronization are removed.
The final layer of the protocol is a gateway-assisted revocation support architecture involving key expiry, passive filtration, and detection of anomalies.
The researchers found that during testing, the protocol only required 0.4µJ for one-time authentication, making it around 11 times more efficient than the best ones currently available in the market.
The comparative analysis with existing protocols also demonstrated its superiority in terms of computational delay, communication overhead, and scalability.9
This is essential for developing a trust base for creating highly secure AI-powered identity management frameworks for future IoNT systems.
Efficient Communication for the Internet of Bio-Nano Things
Image Credit: metamorworks/Shutterstock.com
The Internet of Bio-Nano Things (IoBNT) is a specialized branch of IoNT that focuses on communication within biological environments using nano-machines.
In cooperative molecular communication (MC), information molecules are released by the transmitter and transported to the receiver using diffusion or active transport techniques. Energetic availability for this communication is a major limitation in the performance of IoBNT.
In a recent paper, experts have analyzed energy-allocation strategies for MC in IoBNT systems, with a particular focus on developing a novel cooperative MC system with imperfect transmitters.
The research team modelled a transmitter with two reservoirs, each containing a mixture of two molecule types (used for molecular shift keying, or MoSK). They then carried out a thermodynamic analysis to link the energy consumed (E) and the number of molecules moved (m).
The results showed that, at a fixed energy, smaller reservoirs can yield larger concentration differences for the same moved molecules and thus lower BER in the transmitter stage.
Traditionally, MoSK calculations assumed pure molecule reservoirs, which is an impractical consideration. Impure reservoirs not only increased the BER, but also ensured that energy allocation between transmitters is a critical design parameter that must be studied extensively.10
This research may help guide how future cooperative MC systems in IoBNT should be designed for better energy efficiency and communication performance.
Challenges and the IoNT's Future
IoNT faces several serious challenges, particularly in terms of security.
There are concerns about cyber-attacks that involve manipulating sensor data. There are concerns about the disruption of computer-controlled applications.11
And, there are concerns regarding the protection of software running on IoNT systems, which have been subjected to attacks from hackers.11
Without a very high level of security, there will be a level of mistrust in IoNT that will be hard to quash.
Another critical challenge is the lack of regulation and development of standard frameworks for ensuring the privacy and safety of data during IoNT operations.
Standards must be set to ensure that the secrecy of data is maintained during collection and transmission between various nanodevices. Developing and implementing integrity checks is another problem. The limited size and energy availability pose a crucial challenge in implementing such checks and protocols, forcing researchers to pursue the development of energy-efficient security and encryption protocols.12
Despite these challenges, the IoNT industry is flourishing, with market trends indicating massive growth in the coming years.
This is possible due to a combination of advances in AI systems and progress in nanotechnology and quantum sciences, which are driving new cryptographic approaches designed to resist future attacks. Experts are working towards IoNT systems that combine strong security, privacy protection, and very fast data processing, while still operating within tight energy constraints.
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Further Reading
- Pattar, A. et al. (2019). An Anamnesis on the Internet of Nano Things (IoNT) for Biomedical Applications. ICCCE 2018. Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering. 500. Springer. Singapore. Available at: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-13-0212-1_22
- Padmavathy, V. et al. (2024). A Comprehensive Overview of Internet of NanoThings and its Applications. EAI Endorsed Transactions on Internet of Things. 10. Available at: https://publications.eai.eu/index.php/IoT/article/view/6388
- Ezz El-Din, H. et. al. (2017). Internet of Nano Things and Industrial Internet of Things. In: Acharjya, D., Geetha, M. (eds) Internet of Things: Novel Advances and Envisioned Applications. Studies in Big Data. 25. Springer, Cham. Available at: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-53472-5_5
- Akyildiz, I. et al. (2010). The Internet of nano-things. in IEEE Wireless Communications. 17(6). 58-63. Available at: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5675779
- Naser, H. et al. (2022). Systematic Review of Internet of Nano Things (IoNT) Technology: Taxonomy, Architecture, Open Challenges, Motivation and Recommendations. Iraqi Journal of Natural Sciences and Nanotechnology. 2. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356171231
- Nayyar, A. et al. (2017). Internet of Nano Things (IoNT): Next Evolutionary Step in Nanotechnology. Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. 7(1). 4-8. Available at: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Internet-of-Nano-Things-(IoNT)%3A-Next-Evolutionary-Nayyar-Puri/c7b3f683020cdcec980456fd47f6f708158155f4
- Miraz, M. et al. (2018). Internet of Nano-Things, Things and Everything: Future Growth Trends. Future Internet. 10(8). 68. Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-5903/10/8/68
- Abadal, S. et al. (2024). Electromagnetic Nanonetworks Beyond 6G: From Wearable and Implantable Networks to On-chip and Quantum Communication. IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communication. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1109/JSAC.2024.3399253
- Radhi, B. et al. (2025). A Lightweight Identity Authentication Protocol for Nano-Scale IoT Devices. Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research. 15(5). 27938-27946. Available at: https://etasr.com/index.php/ETASR/article/view/13449
- Jing, D. et al. (2024). Energy Allocation for Multiuser Cooperative Molecular Communication Systems in Internet of Bio-Nano Things. IEEE Internet of Things Journal. 11(9). 16303 - 16313. Available at: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10398486
- Kumar, A. et al. (2023). IoNT: Current State, Challenges, and Future of the Internet of Nano Things. NanoWorld J 9(S5): S350-S356. Available at:https://jnanoworld.com/2023/12/29/iont-current-state-challenges-and-future-of-the-internet-of-nano-things/
- Alabdulatif, A. et al. (2023). Internet of Nano-Things (IoNT): A Comprehensive Review from Architecture to Security and Privacy Challenges. Sensors. 23. 2807. Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/23/5/2807
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