A universal tradeoff between power, precision and speed in physical communication
This provides a foundational tradeoff for engineering and biological systems, though it is incremental as it builds on classical theories like information theory and thermodynamics.
The authors tackled the problem of finding universal physical limits on power, precision, and speed in communication channels, proving that the product of precision and speed is bounded by power dissipation under specific conditions.
Maximizing the speed and precision of communication while minimizing power dissipation is a fundamental engineering design goal. Also, biological systems achieve remarkable speed, precision and power efficiency using poorly understood physical design principles. Powerful theories like information theory and thermodynamics do not provide general limits on power, precision and speed. Here we go beyond these classical theories to prove that the product of precision and speed is universally bounded by power dissipation in any physical communication channel whose dynamics is faster than that of the signal. Moreover, our derivation involves a novel connection between friction and information geometry. These results may yield insight into both the engineering design of communication devices and the structure and function of biological signaling systems.