Call for Papers

The coexistence of human-centered and machine-type applications in fifth generation (5G) and beyond wireless networks will lead to diverse but unprecedented communication requirements, e.g., ultra-high data rate, massive connectivity, ultra-reliability, and ultra-low latency. Fortunately, these requirements do not need to be met simultaneously. To make the design of future communication techniques more focused, 3GPP has categorized the central usage scenarios of future wireless networks into three broad groups: Enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine-type communication (mMTC), and ultra-reliable and low-latency communication (URLLC). Various candidate technologies have been developed to support the diverse requirements of these three scenarios, including co-located and distributed massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), the use of millimeter wave (mmWave) and terahertz (THz) frequencies, full duplex (FD), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), machine-to-machine (M2M) communication, mobile edge computing, fog networks, and short-packet communication.

In 5G-and-beyond networks, an enormous amount of confidential information will be exchanged via wireless channels, e.g., personal privacy, trade secrets, financial information, and military secrets. Therefore, providing security is one of the top priorities in the network design. Physical layer security, operating essentially independently of the higher layers, is now generally recognized as a promising paradigm for securing wireless communication in 5G-and-beyond networks. With the rapid development of physical layer security and 5G communication techniques, it is high time to give the readers of the IEEE Wireless Communications a first in-depth look at the enabling techniques for physical layer security in 5G-and-beyond networks. Specifically, this Special Issue (SI) solicits high-quality tutorial articles addressing the integration of physical layer security into future communication applications and its benefits for providing ultra-secure eMBB, mMTC, and URLLC. To enable physical layer security in 5G-and-beyond networks, we seek original and high-quality submissions related to the core area of this SI. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Advances in the fundamental principles of physical layer security for 5G-and-beyond networks
• Physical layer security in co-located and distributed massive MIMO systems
• Secure transmission using physical layer characteristics at mmWave and THz frequencies
• Integration of physical layer security into FD systems
• Secure orthogonal and non-orthogonal connectivity to massive numbers of devices
• Lightweight, energy-efficient, and low-overhead physical layer secure transmission
• Other physical layer security techniques for eMBB, mMTC, and URLLC applications
• Prototype, testbed, and performance evaluation of physical layer security and key generation

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 “October 2019: Safeguarding 5G-and-Beyond Networks with Physical Layer Security” topic from the drop-down menu of Topic/Series titles.

Important Dates

Manuscript Submission Deadline: 31 January 2019
Initial Decision: 5 April 2019
Revised Manuscript Due: 10 May 2019
Decision Notification: 15 June 2019
Final Manuscript Due: 10 July 2019
Publication Date: October 2019

Guest Editors

Yongpeng Wu
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Trung Q. Duong
Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom

A. Lee Swindlehurst
University of California, USA