Call for Papers

The IEEE Open Journal of Communications Society (OJ-COMS) invites manuscript submissions in the area of Low-Power Wide-Area Networks (LPWANs).

Low-power wide-area networks (LPWANs) are one of the key enabling technologies for the Internet of Things (IoT). The main goal of LPWAN technologies is to provide long-range and low-power communications at relatively low bit rates using low-cost devices. Many LPWAN standards have been proposed (e.g, LoRa, Sigfox, LTE-M, NB-IoT, Weightless, and more) and some are starting to be used extensively in practical IoT deployments. However, several key challenges need to be overcome in order for the predicted massive LPWAN-enabled IoT deployments to materialize.

Scalability limitations are inherent in LPWANs due to their low-power nature, which necessitates simplistic physical layer, MAC layer, and network designs. Mathematical models, simulations, and experimental deployments have demonstrated these limitations. Maintaining the low-power nature of LPWANs without impeding their scalability is a major challenge, which needs to be addressed through innovations on multiple layers as well as across layers. Massive practical deployments will also require the resolution of several privacy, security, and reliability concerns. The solutions to these challenges can be evaluated theoretically or through simulations. Moreover, the experimental evaluation of the proposed solutions for a wide range of future applications is particularly valuable. This can achieved either by using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) devices or custom software-defined radio (SDR) testbeds.

In this special issue, we aim to bring together leading researchers from both academia and industry to tackle a wide range of LPWAN technology challenges. This special issue solicits contributions both on existing standards and on groundbreaking proposals that could shape the LPWAN standards of the future. The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Novel physical layer techniques and waveforms
• Improved receiver architectures (e.g., multi-user receivers, iterative receivers, MIMO receivers)
• Coexistence of different LPWAN technologies
• Modeling of interference and its effects on the physical and MAC layers
• Novel MAC layer techniques and protocols
• LPWAN scalability analysis using mathematical models and system-level simulators
• Massive and non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) in LPWANs
• Cross-layer design of LPWAN systems
• Non-terrestrial LPWANs based on (nano-)satellites, HAPS, and UAVs
• Localization and tracking using LPWANs
• Edge computing in LPWANs with particular emphasis on offloading complexity from end devices
• Privacy, security, and reliability enhancements
• Applications to Industry 4.0, smart mobility, smart homes, smart cities, agriculture, logistics, and other emerging use cases  
• Software-defined radio (SDR) implementations and testbeds
• Experimental deployments and measurements for link and network performance evaluation

Submission Guidelines

Prospective authors should submit their manuscripts following the IEEE OJ-COMMS guidelines. Authors should submit manuscript to Manuscript Central.

Lead Guest Editor

Alexios Balatsoukas-Stimming, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands

Guest Editors

Orion Afisiadis, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Sonia Aïssa, Université du Québec, Canada
Liesbet Van Der Perre, KU Leuven, Belgium; Lund University, Sweden
Joel J. P. C. Rodrigues, Federal University of Piauí, Brazil; Instituto de Telecomunicações, Portugal
Jiliang Wang, Tsingua University, China