Call for Papers

While 5G research is maturing toward a global standard, the focus has now shifted toward the development of beyond-5G solutions. Wireless data traffic is estimated to reach 4394 EB by 2030 (Source: ITU), and the number of connected devices might surge beyond 50 billion. 5G will be unable to provide adequate support for various applications that depends on this huge data generated from massively interconnected devices. Many future data intensive applications and services like pervasive edge intelligence, holographic rendering, high precision manufacturing, ultra-massive machine-type communications, and VAR-based gaming are expected to demand higher bitrates (Tera bits per seconds) and lower latency (less than 1ms). Here, 6G is expected to extend 5G capabilities to higher levels where millions of connected devices and applications could operate seamlessly with trust, low-latency and high-bandwidth.

Research in 6G has already begun and is expected to gain momentum very soon. Industries and academia have allocated enormous funds and other resources for 6G research and development. The main focus is expected to be in the deployment of 6G enabled massive IoT, interoperability issues, system architectures, energy efficient technologies, application of artificial intelligence and other latest techniques to improve network performance, security and privacy. The objective of this Special Issue (SI) is to define the framework of the 6th generation of communication networks, its services and breakthrough technologies. Topics covered will include but are not limited to:

• Key drivers and requirements for 6G
• Quantum communications for 6G
• Integrating space and terrestrial networks for 6G
• Terahertz communications
• Resource management for 3D networking
• AI-enabled intelligent 6G networks
• Holographic MIMO surfaces for 6G networks
• 6G supported UAV networks
• Technologies to harness new spectrum, dynamic spectrum access, unlicensed LTE
• 6G enabled massive IoT networks
• Integration of access-backhaul networks
• Integration of wireless information and energy transfer
• Big data analytics and privacy-preserving techniques, security issues in 6G networks
• Dynamic network slicing
• Breakthrough technologies and concepts
• Interoperability, standards, service provisioning
• Commercial use cases and applications and future perspectives of 6G

Important Dates

Manuscript Submission Deadline: 15 May 2021
Initial Decision Date: 1 August 2021
Revised Manuscript Due: 1 September 2021
Final Decision Date: 1 October 2021
Final Manuscript Due: 15 December 2021
Publication Date: February 2022

Submission Guidelines

Manuscripts should conform to the standard format as indicated in the Information for Authors section of the Paper Submission Guidelines.

All manuscripts to be considered for publication must be submitted by the deadline through Manuscript Central. Select the “February 2022/6G: The Paradigm for Future Wireless Communications” topic from the drop-down menu of Topic/Series titles.

Guest Editors

Shahid Mumtaz
institute de telecommunication, Portugal

Chunxiao Jiang
Tsinghua University, China

Antti Tölli
University of Oulu, Finland

Anwer Al-Dulaimi
EXFO, Canada

Majid Butt
Nokia Bell Labs, Paris-Saclay, France

Hafiz M. Asif
Sultan Qaboos University, Oman

Ikram Ashraf
Nokia Bell Labs, Espoo, Finland