Call for Papers

The increasing density of wireless devices, ever-growing demands for extremely high-data rates, and the spectrum scarcity at the sub-6 GHz bands are making the use of spectrum-rich millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequencies among the most important components of future wireless networks. The major commercial potential of mmWave networks has led to mmWave being considered as a key element of 5G-and-beyond mobile cellular networks, as well as for emerging Gbps-speed Wi-Fi networks based on the IEEE 802.11ad and draft IEEE 802.11ay standards. Despite this intense interest in mmWave from both the research community and industry, much fundamental research is still needed, especially at the networking layers.

Compared to traditional wireless communication systems, the special propagation features and hardware constraints of mmWave systems introduce many new challenges in the design of efficient and robust medium access control (MAC), routing, and transport protocols. Communication at such high frequencies suffers from high attenuation and signal absorption as well as high penetration loss, requiring the use of highly directional antennas. This move from conventional omnidirectional networks to directional, blockage-prone mmWave connectivity marks a true paradigm shift for mmWave networking, affecting the design of all aspects of network control and resource management. The extremely high data rates achievable at mmWave come at the price of high coordination overhead. This in turn requires a radical rethinking of the design of all aspects of network coordination and resource management, including cell-discovery and initial access, mobility management, routing, coordination, scheduling, user association, resource allocation, and network planning. 

Presently, there is arguably an adequate understanding of physical layer issues, which have been the object of much prior work, including special issues of JSAC. By contrast, the upper layers of the protocol stack are still largely unexplored in the context of efficient and robust mmWave networking. The severe channel attenuation, vulnerability to blockage by mobile and environmental obstacles, inherent directionality of mmWave links, the reduced interference footprint, complicated channel establishment and mobility management, and high signaling overhead of mmWave networks demand a thorough reconsideration of traditional protocols and design principles at the MAC as well as the higher layers.  

This special issue seeks new ideas to address networking challenges of future mmWave networks. The purpose is not only to serve as a collection of recent developments of mmWave communications, but also to inspire readers/researchers to contribute in this exciting and promising field. Prospective authors are invited to submit high-quality original manuscripts on topics including, but not limited to:

• Network planning, optimization and learning theories for mmWave networks
• Performance analysis, optimization, and fundamental limits
• Signal processing for effective networking
• Measurement studies and deployment experiences of mmWave networks
• Routing, scheduling, resource allocation, and interference management
• Initial access and link establishment for mmWave networks
• Mobility management and seamless handover for mmWave networks 
• Association and coordination among access points/base stations and terminals/mobile equipment
• Spectrum sharing (bandwidth or infrastructure) for mmWave networks
• Beam-steering and tracking algorithms for mmWave networks
• Scalable wireless access algorithms for large numbers of connected devices
• Novel transport protocols for mmWave networks
• Cross-layer adaptation for mmWave networks
• Coexistence/integration with e.g. microwave technologies in heterogeneous networks 

Submission Guidelines

Prospective authors must follow the IEEE J-SAC manuscript format described in the Information for Authors. Authors MUST submit their draft manuscripts through EDAS.

Important Dates

Manuscript Due: 22 May 2019 (New Deadline)
First Revision Notification: 7 July 2019
Acceptance Notification: 31 August 2019
Final Manuscript Due: 15 September 2019
Expected Publication of the Special Issue: Fourth Quarter 2019

Guest Editors 

Carlo Fischione
KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden

Ljiljana Simić
RWTH Aachen University, Germany

Joerg Widmer
IMDEA Networks, Spain

Sandeep Rangan
NYU Tandon, NY, USA

Dimitrios Koutsonikolas
University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA

Xinyu Zhang
UC San Diego, CA, USA
 
Anfu Zhou
Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, China