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The article presents the discussion on meaning or semantics of the data. Topics include advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) providing a powerful tool for solving fundamental problems in semantic communications; and semantic communications in emerging wireless networks such as virtual reality and autonomous driving.

The article reports that In contrast to the Shannon paradigm whose underlying principle is to guarantee the correct reception of each single transmitted packet regardless of its meaning, semantic communication is concerned with the problem of how transmitted symbols convey a desired meaning to the destination, as well as how effectively the received meaning affects the action in a desired way.

Prospective authors are requested to submit new, unpublished manuscripts for inclusion in the upcoming event described in this call for papers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Verification of theoretical analysis is a vital step in the development of an application or a protocol for wireless networks. Most proposals are evaluated through mathematical analysis followed by either simulation or experimental validation campaigns. In this article, we analyze a large set of statistics in articles published (674 papers in total) in the top representative ad hoc and wireless sensor networks related conferences (i.e., ACM/ IEEE IPSN, ACM MobiCom, ACM MobiHoc, and ACM SenSys) during the period 2008?2013. We focus on the evaluation methodologies provided by researchers. More specifically, our goal is to explore the role of simulators and testbeds in the theoretical analysis of a model throughout the protocol development procedure. We show that there is a tendency for more and more researchers to rely on custom or open testbeds in order to evaluate the performance of their proposals. Simulators indeed fail to reproduce actual environmental conditions of deployed systems. Experimentation with real hardware allows our research community to mind the gaps between simulation and real deployment. Still, as the experimental apFproach through custom testbeds results in a low reproducibility level (i.e., 16.5 percent), we investigate to what extent such performance evaluation methods will be able to bridge those gaps. We finally discuss experimental testbeds and their potential to replace simulators as the cornerstone of performance evaluation procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

An editorial is presented which discusses the communications services from the perspectives of mobile communication application and traditional macrocellular-based mobile communication network architecture. It also discusses the 5G telecommunication and topics covered by the periodical IEEE Communications Magazine, including cyber risk, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) communications, and optimization techniques for computation, communication, and storage.

An introduction is presented in which the author discusses various reports within the issue on topics including difference between microwave and millimeter wave propagation on 5G systems, impact of body and blockage for millimeter wave, and millimeter-wave versus synthetic beamwidth.

This is Part 2 of a Feature Topic (FT) series covering the convergence of communications, caching, and computing for next generation wireless mobile networks. The design and engineering philosophy of modern wireless networks is witnessing a fundamental shift from being "connection-centric" to being "content-centric". This FT aims to provide a comprehensive overview of recent progress in the theoretical foundation, architectural advances, modeling/analytics, protocol engineering, and prototyping of content-centric mobile networks. The response to our Call for Papers was overwhelming, with a total of 54 articles submitted by leading researchers and practitioners from around the world. Following a rigorous review process, Part 1 of this FT series, containing 12 articles, appeared in the August issue of IEEE Communications Magazine. The following additional six papers are selected to be included in Part 2 of the series. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article presents information about the papers published in the "Topics in Circuits for Communications Series" section of the December 2005 issue of the "IEEE Communications Magazine." This section include three articles which focuses on the implementation of future convergent portable devices. These devices integrate several functions such as wireless LAN, personal video recording, gaming, and digital TV. Such mobile devices would require wireless chips which support cellular communications, image and graphics processing, and short-range connectivity to peripheral devices and sensors. The first article "Streaming Processors for Next-Generation Mobile Imaging Applications" focuses on the circuit and architecture technology to provide the balance between low-power consumption and high signal processing performance. The next article "Low-Power 3D Graphics Processors for Mobile Terminals" presents information about the design constraints in delivering rich graphical processing capabilities in a mobile environment. Another article "A CMOS 868/915 MHz Direct Conversion ZigBee Single-Chip Radio" focuses on the design of a ZigBee radio.

The article reports on the 8th International Conference on Telecommunications in Modern Satellite, Cable, and Broadcasting Services (TELSIKS) on September 26-28, 2007, in Nis, Serbia. There were 135 papers on a broad range of topics, including satellite communications, mobile communications, and classical cable and optical communications.

In order to deal with the challenges and opportunities presented by the mobile Internet, this paper proposes a new Internet-oriented mobile network architecture, dubbed i-Net, for fifth generation (5G) mobile communication systems. Based on direct communications established between the base stations (BSs), i-Net can implement local data routing for mobile data traffic, which adapts to increased service localization for the mobile Internet. We first present the network architecture and main technical features, i.e., inter-connection, integration, and intelligence. Then the key techniques are discussed to show their potential in improving the network efficiency of i-Net. Field trials for inter-BS direct communications to implement cooperative multipoint oPeration (CoMP) in i-Net are carried out to demonstrate the feasibility of i-Net. It is expected that i-Net can provide a good quality of experience for end users through the efficient integration of the multi-BS, multi-band, and multi-radio-access-technology (RAT) radio resources in 5G. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

IEEE GLOBECOM 2014 (www.ieee-globecom.org/2014), the premier global conference dedicated to driving advancement in nearly every telecommunications field, held its 57th annual event from December 8?12 in Austin, Texas, the thriving national center for entrepreneurialism and innovation commonly recognized as ?the Silicon Hills.? Known for its high concentration of technology startups and corporations, the conference?s organizing committee combined the talents of thousands of industry professionals to ensure an enriching experience for both practitioners and academia. This included expanding the industrial program with a far wider breadth of keynotes, executive forums, demos and interactive sessions as well as offering amenities such as a downloadable mobile application, which placed session and conference proceeding information, locations and times at the fingertips of attendees. AT&T and the Austin Hilton further supported IEEE GLOBECOM 2014 by assuring access to the latest 4G LTE cellular technology and state-of-the-art WiFi connections were available throughout the conference venue. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

5G, the mobile communication technology for beyond 2020, will provide access to information and the sharing of data anywhere and anytime for anyone and anything. This paper describes the current status of the processes moving toward 5G, or "IMT for 2020 and beyond," in ITU-R. We also provide a view of 5G opportunities, challenges, requirements and technical solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The large growth in mobile broadband traffic, wide support of Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) technology in mobile devices, and the desire of operators to provide services anywhere at any time, have led to a need to integrate WLANs with the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Evolved Packet Core (EPC). This paper starts with a description of an architecture that 3GPP has defined to achieve this. It describes how a mobile device can set up an IP connection over WLAN routed via EPC without imposing new requirements on the mobile device. It also describes how more advanced features that do impose new requirements on the mobile device can be supported in an incremental fashion. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, we examine upcoming 5G networks where the support of D2D communication is expected to be a key asset for operators and users alike. First, we argue the need to functionally integrate D2D and infrastructure-to-device (I2D) modes. Next, we address practical issues such as integrated resource scheduling of D2D communication within heterogeneous networks, proposing an extension of the proportional fairness algorithm that we call multi-modal proportional fairness (MMPF). We evaluate the impact of D2D in a two-tier scenario combining macroand micro-coverage, finding that although I2D retains a clear edge for general-purpose downloading, D2D is an appealing solution for localized transfers as well as for viral content. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article introduces various manuscripts presented in part 2 of the series "Cross-Layer Engineering for Wireless Mobile Networks," given in the January 2006 issue of the journal "IEEE Communications Magazine." The papers discuss several issues related to the cross-layer architecture and designing. They also discuss the need of high speed multimedia services that are one of the primary prerequisites for the protocol. The paper by V.T. Raisinghani and S. Iyer presents the cross-layer design architecture for enhancing the performance of existing protocol stacks in the wireless environment. The paper by R. Winter, J. Schiller, N. Nikaein and C. Bonnet provides an insight into cross-talk and methods of improvement of the cross layer working. Then there is an article by X. Zhang, J. Tang, H-H. Chen, S. Ci, and M. Guizani that presents information on a cross-layer model to investigate the impact of various advanced physical layer techniques on radio link layer performance. Then there are articles that focus on IEEE 802.11 standard on cross-layer signaling.

The widespread availability and demand for multimedia capable devices and multimedia content have fueled the need for high-speed wireless connectivity beyond the capabilities of existing commercial standards. While fiber optic data transfer links can provide multigigabit- per-second data rates, cost and deployment are often prohibitive in many applications. Wireless links, on the contrary, can provide a cost-effective fiber alternative to interconnect the outlining areas beyond the reach of the fiber rollout. With this in mind, the ever increasing demand for multi-gigabit wireless applications, fiber segment replacement mobile backhauling and aggregation, and covering the last mile have posed enormous challenges for next generation wireless technologies. In particular, the unbalanced temporal and geographical variations of spectrum usage along with the rapid proliferation of bandwidth- hungry mobile applications, such as video streaming with high definition television (HDTV) and ultra-high definition video (UHDV), have inspired millimeter-wave (mmWave) communications as a promising technology to alleviate the pressure of scarce spectrum resources for fifth generation (5G) mobile broadband. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

5G networks are expected to be able to satisfy users' different QoS requirements. Network slicing is a promising technology for 5G networks to provide services tailored for users' specific QoS demands. Driven by the increased massive wireless data traffic from different application scenarios, efficient resource allocation schemes should be exploited to improve the flexibility of network resource allocation and capacity of 5G networks based on network slicing. Due to the diversity of 5G application scenarios, new mobility management schemes are greatly needed to guarantee seamless handover in network-slicing-based 5G systems. In this article, we introduce a logical architecture for network-slicing-based 5G systems, and present a scheme for managing mobility between different access networks, as well as a joint power and subchannel allocation scheme in spectrum-sharing two-tier systems based on network slicing, where both the co-tier interference and cross-tier interference are taken into account. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed resource allocation scheme can flexibly allocate network resources between different slices in 5G systems. Finally, several open issues and challenges in network-slicing-based 5G networks are discussed, including network reconstruction, network slicing management, and cooperation with other 5G technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We propose the TelcoFog architecture as a novel, secure, highly distributed, and ultra-dense fog computing infrastructure, which can be allocated at the extreme edge of a wired/wireless network for a telecom operator to provide multiple unified, cost-effective, and new 5G services, such as NFV, MEC, and services for third parties (e.g., smart cities, vertical industries, and IoT). The distributed and programmable fog technologies that are proposed in TelcoFog are expected to strengthen the position of the mobile network and cloud markets. TelcoFog, by design, is capable of integrating an ecosystem for network operators willing to provide NFV, MEC, and IoT services. TelcoFog's key benefits are the dynamic deployment of new distributed low-latency services. The novel TelcoFog architecture consists of three main building blocks: a scalable TelcoFog node, which is seamlessly integrated in the telecom infrastructure; a TelcoFog controller, focused on service assurance and based on service data modeling using YANG, which is integrated in the management and orchestration architecture of the telecom operator; and TelcoFog services, which are able to run on top of the TelcoFog and telecom infrastructure. The TelcoFog architecture is validated through a proof of concept for IoT services. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents a technical report on the 12th International Conference on Software, Telecommunications, and Computer Networks (SoftCOM 2004), which was held during October 10-13, 2004 on the cruise ship Marko Polo on the attractive route Split-Dubrovnik-Split-Venice-Split. The conference program featured a symposium dedicated to the most timely topics in the area of mobile and wireless communications. Two special sessions and 17 general conference sessions, a poster session, and two professional workshops were held too. Researchers and experts from industry, research institutes, and universities from more than 40 countries all around the world submitted in total 203 papers for presentation at Soft- COM 2004. Submitted papers were reviewed by more than 100 scientists from universities, institutes, and companies all over the world. All accepted papers were carefully selected based on their contribution, relevance, conceptual clarity, and overall quality. Nearly 69 percent of submitted papers were recommended for presentation within the technical program.

Following the Part 1 that appeared in the September 2015 issue of IEEE Communications Magazine, this Part 2 of the Radio Communications Series features several papers illustrating key trends in Software Defined Radio. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article presents information about the papers published in the "Cross-Layer Protocol Engineering for Wireless Mobile Networks" section of the December 2005 issue of the "IEEE Communications Magazine." The rapid evolution of the next generation wireless network is being driven by the growth of wireless packet data applications. One of the challenges in this evolution is to develop end-to-end protocol solutions across networks by using IP technologies. Cross-layer protocol engineering is an emerging research area and it also holds potential for comprehensive results addressing relevant issues to support emerging applications. The first article, "Cross-Layer Design: A Survey and the Road Ahead," presents information about cross-layer design proposals and also presents classification of the initial proposals for cross-layer interaction implementations. The second article "Cross-Layer Design for Resource Allocation in 3G Wireless Networks and Beyond" focuses on different cross-layer design approaches for resource allocation in 3G CDMA networks. Another article "Utility-Based Resource Allocation and Scheduling in OFDM-Based Wireless Broadband Networks" focuses on resources management in broadband wireless networks.

The articles in this special section address new applications supported by the Internet of Things. The Internet of Things (IoT) is seen as a set of vertical application domains that share a limited number of common basic functionalities. In this view, consumer-centric solutions, platforms, data management, and business models have to be developed and consolidated in order to deploy effective solutions in the specific fields. The availability of low-cost general-purpose processing and storage systems with sensing/actuation capabilities coupled with communication capabilities are broadening the possibilities of IoT, leading to open systems that will be highly programmable and virtualized, and will support large numbers of application programming interfaces (APIs). IoT emerges as a set of integrated technologies ? new, exciting solutions and services that are set to change the way people live and produce goods. IoT is regarded by many as a fruitful technological sector in order to generate revenues. IoT covers a large wealth of consumer-centric technologies and is applicable to an even larger set of application domains. Innovation will be nurtured and driven by the possibilities offered by the combination of increased technological capabilities, new business models, and the rise of new ecosystems. Addresses several promising approaches to sensors, actuators, and new consumer devices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The three articles in this special section focus on telecommunications software, network virtualization, and software defined networks. Software-based networking and virtualization are radically changing the way communication infrastructures are designed, programmed, integrated and operated, enabling rapid and innovative network functions and network services creation with easy deployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The future development of the railway is highly desired to evolve into a new era where infrastructure, trains, travelers, and goods will be increasingly interconnected to provide high comfort, with optimized door-to-door mobility at higher safety. For this vision, it is required to realize seamless high data rate wireless connectivity for railways. To improve the safety and comfort of future railways, wireless communications for railways are required to evolve from only voice and traditional train control signaling services to various high data rate services including critical high-definition (HD) video and other more bandwidth-intensive passenger services, such as onboard and wayside HD video surveillance, onboard real-time high data rate services, train multimedia dispatching video streaming, railway mobile ticketing, and the Internet of Things for railways. Corresponding mobile communications network architecture under various railway scenarios including inter-car, intra-car, inside station, train-to-infrastructure and infrastructure- to-infrastructure are proposed in this article. Wireless coverage based on massive MIMO for railway stations and train cars is proposed to fulfill the requirement of high-data-rate and high spectrum efficiency. The technical challenges brought by the massive MIMO technique are discussed as well. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Network infrastructure sharing and base station switching off mechanisms have been recently introduced as promising solutions toward energy and cost reduction in cellular networks. Although these techniques are usually studied independently, their combination offers new alternatives to MNOs for serving their users and could potentially provide them with additional benefits. In this article we introduce the concept of intra-cell roaming-based infrastructure sharing, where the MNOs may switch off their BSs and roam their traffic to active BSs operated by other MNOs in the same cell. Motivated by the coexistence of multiple operators in the same area, we present possible network deployments and architectures in current and future cellular scenarios, discussing their particular characteristics. In addition, we propose an innovative distributed game theoretic BS switching off scheme, employing an integrated cost function that takes into account all the different cases for a given operator to serve its own traffic (i.e. through active BSs of neighboring cells or exploiting intra-cell roaming-based infrastructure sharing). Finally, we demonstrate some indicative simulation results in realistic scenarios to quantify the potential energy and financial benefits that our proposed scheme offers to the MNOs in multioperator environments, providing them with the necessary incentives to participate in the infrastructure sharing. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Presents a brief description of recent communications standards and briefly explains their specifications and applications supoorted. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article gives information on 2022 IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM) will be held in the warm and exciting city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 4 to 8 December 2022.

The article reports that the 2022 IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM) will be held in the warm and exciting city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 4 to 8 December 2022. Themed "Accelerating the Digital Transformation through Smart Communications," this flagship conference of the IEEE Communications Society will feature a comprehensive high-quality technical program including 13 symposia and a variety of tutorials and workshops.

The environment surrounding the IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc) has been changing continuously, with the major thrust coming from technology and market changes. The days of telephone-based communications began to fade with the divesture of AT&T and privatization of telco businesses in the late 1980s. The decline of the telecom industry in the 1990s led to the decline in ComSoc's membership. The proliferation of the Internet and the evolution of mobile communications transformed the telecom industry significantly, pushing several traditional telecom manufacturers out of business, which curtailed ComSoc's advertising revenue and conference attendance. Yet another big blow came in the late 2000s from the convergence of communications and computers, whose symbolic outcome is the smart phone. This "Smart Revolution" invited new players such as Apple and Google to the communications arena along with brand-new business models centered on open applications stores. As an aftermath of the Smart Revolution, the communications market began to convert into a software and content driven market. Unfortunately, ComSoc has not yet been able to operationalize strategies to confront the challenges and opportunities of the Smart Revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

5G will have to support a multitude of new applications with a wide variety of requirements, including higher peak and user data rates, reduced latency, enhanced indoor coverage, increased number of devices, and so on. The expected traffic growth in 10 or more years from now can be satisfied by the combined use of more spectrum, higher spectral efficiency, and densification of cells. The focus of the present article is on advanced techniques for higher spectral efficiency and improved coverage for cell edge users. We propose a smart combination of small cells, joint transmission coordinated multipoint (JT CoMP), and massive MIMO to enhance the spectral efficiency with affordable complexity. We review recent achievements in the transition from theoretical to practical concepts and note future research directions. We show in measurements with macro-plus-smallcell scenarios that spectral efficiency can be improved by flexible clustering and efficient user selection, and that adaptive feedback compression is beneficial to reduce the overhead significantly. Moreover, we show in measurements that fast feedback reporting combined with advanced channel prediction are able to mitigate the impairment effects of JT CoMP. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Over the last decade, energy harvesting has emerged as a promising approach to enable self-sufficient and self-sustaining operation for devices in energy-constrained networks by scavenging energy from the ambient environment to power up devices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

his series is an attempt to provide a holistic view of telecommunications services (having covered previously both enterprise [1] and residential [2] segments). The current issue is the second part of the New Converged Telecommunications Applications for the End User feature topic. In the previous issue ([3]), two published articles described services that rely on IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) infrastructure (which is progressively being deployed by telcos), related to lookup services and vehicular technology. In this second part a total of eight articles complete the selection of material fulfilling the call for papers? intention of providing an update and new insights into the applications and services a converged world is bringing, concentrating on application-only topics in the field of services for mass market users. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We present a baseband processing platform that consists of a DSP processor and an ASIC unit introduced in [6]. Based on this platform, we show detailed architecture of the implementation of the NodeB R99 physical layer channel processing of the 3GPP UMTS. We then show the ability of this platform to support the implementation of HSDPA channels introduced in R5 and E-DCH channels introduced in R6 of the standard by means of innovative DSP solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beyond-3G (B3G) systems have been envisaged as an evolution and convdergence of mobile/wireless communication systems and IP technologies to offer a multitude of services over a variety of access technologies. To fulfill the vision, it is necessary to understand the requirements with respect to the support of heterogeneity in network accesses, communication services, mobility, user devices, and so on. Besides, it is equally important to promote the necessary research in networking technology by providing a guiding framework of research areas and technical issues with priority. The new architectures and technologies will have to address the fundamental assumptions and requirements that govern the design. All these issues are being tackled by the Cooperative Network working group (CoNet) of WWRF; the group is working on a series of white papers outlining B3G visions and roadmap, architectural principles, research challenges, and candidate approaches. This article outlines the CoNet concept, architectural principles, and guidelines for research into cooperative networks assuming that the B3G systems will be built over generic IP networking technologies. The article also presents the key research challenges, research framework, and major network components and technologies. The key points are that the system should be layered on demand, encourage reuse of independent modularized functional blocks, support multiple services and service creation, ensure consistent end-to-end connectivity across different access technologies, and cooperate in terms of net- work control, operations, and maintenance. The architecture shall include the endpoints of communications as part of the communications system, and should provide a secure and trusted environment in which network functions are performed; the network should self-organize dynamically. Additionally, the article presents the IST WSI architecture proposed to CoNet as a reference model along with some approaches to the outlined research challenges. Finally, this study selects three important network components and technologies (i.e., mobility management, multiple access, and moving networks) in order to provide with answers and possible solutions the research challenges presented in earlier sections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successful city management relies on urban dynamics and social event monitoring to provide essential information for decision making. In traditional sensing techniques such as wireless sensor networks (WSNs), distributed sensors are leveraged to acquire real-world conditions. However, static sensing suffers from several problems, such as insufficient node coverage, high installation/ maintenance cost, and lack of scalability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the last year or so, significant momentum has started to build around the idea of a fifth generation (5G) for wireless communications technology. New research projects have started internationally, and research centers devoted to 5G technology have begun to open. At the ICC 2013 conference in Budapest, there were a number of keynote talks and special invited sessions addressing some of the key concepts around 5G technology. This Special Issue was created by IEEE Communications Magazine to help readers understand the current perspectives on 5G technology from both industry and academic standpoints. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article offers information on several topics discussed at the International Conference Telecommunication held in Marrakech, Morocco on May 25-27, 2009. Topics include the strategic plan of Morocco for Information and Communication Technologies for 2009-2013, emergence of wireless broadband technology, and aspects of mobile and wireless communications. The event featured speakers including Taieb Debbagh, Hikmet Sari, and Kaveh Pahlavan.

The article introduces a series of articles about the multihop cellular network (MCN). These include an article on several technologies for MCN by Long Le and Ekram Hossain, another by Basak Can and colleagues on the implementation issues of orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing-based MCN and another presenting a framework for mobility modeling to analyze the performance of heterogeneous networks by Ahmed H. Zahran and Ben Liang.

The article presents the second part of the two-part feature topic series about the advances in service platform technologies for next-generation mobile systems. The success of next-generation mobile systems depend with flexible service platforms that are able to provide services and applications for wireless communications systems. Internet protocol multimedia subsystem has emerged to provide open interfaces to service providers while peer-to peer communication service platforms allow mobile users to directly interact with each other without central control. The next-generation service platform was developed aimed at providing all means that will allow innovative services to be created, deployed and managed the needs of the customer and operator.

This article focuses on new technological products. Some of the products are: RF Micro Devices (RFMD) has announced volume production shipments of Polaris Total Radio GSM/GPRS transceivers and PowerStar power amplifier (PA) modules for use in the Motorola MPx22O handset, Infineon Technologies' new R.MAC line of integrated circuits (ICs) is designed to improve resilient packet ring (RPR) functionality in metropolitan area networks (MANs). NetTest has announced the introduction of its newest tunable laser source, the ECL-400. From 1260 to 1650 nm, the ECL- 400 provides full telecom band coverage for the O, E, S, C, L, and U bands in a single compact unit. Agilent has introduced a wide-wavelength multirate optical module for the Aglient 86100C Infiniium digital communications analyzer.

The nine articles in this special section focus on the future of fifth generation (5G) millimeter wave systems. 5G communications will face a complete set of significant challenges, such as ultra-high system capacity due to the traffi c demand, massive device connectivity, ultra-low latency, reduction in energy consumption, and high quality of experience. In that context, 5G is called to produce a complete revolution in the way users can access content and services in their general activity across daily life. The evolution of communication systems has a direct and key role, offering major capacity and communication possibilities through the smart use of the available bandwidth and the propagation channel, and the deployment of higher frequencies at millimeter-wave (mmWave) frequency bands. The articles in this section present recent advances, technical aspects, and challenges surrounding mmWave 5G systems at the physical level so that the professionals involved in 5G definition and development can be aware of the technical challenges that arise in such systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the guest editor discusses the expected rise in demand of fifth generation (5G) mobile communication technology by 2020, and the requirement of high data rate, low latency, and massive connectivity.

A current major theme in the consumer communications area is heterogeneous wireless networks. This is largely driven by the popularity of mobile devices and the deployment of high-speed wireless networks. This heterogeneity has a number of dimensions. One dimension is heterogeneity in wireless technology, a trend that is strongly reflected in the articles in this issue of the Consumer Communications and Networking Series. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Mobile terminals are becoming the primary Internet devices for most of the people in the world, and smartphone users are generating on average 10 times more traffic than other users. Current forecasts expect mobile data traffic to grow by 300?500 percent over the next 10 years, whereas the capacity of cellular infrastructure only doubles every two years. In order to cope with these challenges, it is critical that telecom operators and Internet service providers adopt smarter traffic management and pricing strategies. By 2020, more than half of the revenue in the global broadband industry is likely to be from two business models: ?wholesale? and ?two-sided? fees for improved access capacity and quality. These models require enforcement of stringent policy control mechanisms for bandwidth management, quality of service (QoS), and service level agreements. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Over the last few years, fundamental research has demonstrated the great potential of cooperative wireless networking in increasing system capacity and enlarging the coverage area as well as enhancing quality of service (QoS) by taking advantage of cooperative diversity and multiplexing. Consequently, cooperative wireless networking has become one of the widely recognized features for future wireless communication systems. While the conventional research mainly focuses on relatively simple cooperative relay topologies or cooperation schemes under the existing infrastructure networks, cooperative networking for future wireless systems has a unique spectrum of features. Specifically, the frequent user cooperation and interaction empower mobile users with a new role as mobile service providers, in contrast to their traditional role as only consumers. In this sense, mobile users' cooperation strategy and decisions are sensitive to not only the QoS requirements of the end users' applications, but also their own benefits as rewards for providing mobile services. Moreover, the cooperation provided by mobile users does not have to rely heavily on infrastructure networks. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article profiles Iwao Sasase, candidate for member-at-large of the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers Inc. (IEEE) Communications Society. Sasase obtained his diploma and doctorate degree in electrical engineering from Keio University in Yokohama, Japan in 1979, 1981, and 1984 respectively. He is the chair and a professor at the Department of Information & Computer Science at Keio University and his research includes topics on broadband mobile, photonic networks, and wireless communications. His position statement notes that he aims to develop cooperation with Sister Societies and boost local chapters around the world.

The convergence of communication and computing (COM2P) has been taken as a promising solution for the sustainable development of mobile communication systems. The introduction of fog computing in future mobile networks makes COM2P possible. This article provides an overview on fog computing enabled mobile communication networks (FogMNW), including network architecture, system capacity and resource management. First, this article analyzes the heterogeneity of FogMNW with both advanced communication techniques and fog computing. Then a heterogeneous communication and hierarchical fog computing network architecture is proposed. With both communication and computing resources, FogMNW is enabled to achieve much higher capacity than conventional communication networks. This has been well demonstrated by the coded multicast scheme. Furthermore, a systematic management of communication and computing resources is necessary for FogMNW. By exploiting the communication load diversity in N cells, a communication load aware CLA scheme can achieve much higher computing resource efficiency than comparing schemes. The performance gap increases with N, and CLA can improve efficiency by more than 100 percent when there are 14 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]