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Digital Signal Processing for Molecular Communication via Chemical Reactions-based Microfluidic Circuits

Chemical reactions-based microfluidic circuits are expected to provide new opportunities to perform signal processing functions over molecular domain. To realize this vision, in this article, we exploit and present the digital signal processing capabilities of chemical reactions-based microfluidic circuits. Aiming to facilitate microfluidic circuit design, we describe a microfluidic circuit using a five-level architecture: 1) Molecular Propagation; 2) Chemical Transformation; 3) Microfluidic Modules; 4) Microfluidic Logic Gates; and 5) Microfluidic Circuits. We first identify the components at Levels 1 and 2, and present how their combinations can build the basic modules for Level 3. We then assemble basic modules to construct five types of logic gate for Level 4, including AND, NAND, OR, NOR, and XOR gates, which show advantages of microfluidic circuits in reusability and modularity. Last but not least, we discuss challenges and potential solutions for designing, building, and testing microfluidic circuits with complex signal processing functions in Level 5 based on the digital logic gates at Level 4.