IEEE <italic>Access</italic> Special Section Editorial: Optimization for Emerging Wireless Networks: IoT, 5G, and Smart Grid Communication Networks

Abstract

The ever-increasing demand for wireless services and the continual improvements in wireless technology has led to the emergence of different types of wireless networks. These emerging networks include 5G networks [item 4) in the Appendix], Internet-of-Things (IoT) [item 5) in the Appendix], communication networks for smart grid, etc. 5G networks are envisioned to adopt a number of emerging concepts and technologies such as dense small cells and heterogeneous networks, device-to-device (D2D) communications, energy-efficient algorithms and protocols, multiband and full duplex transmission, and new multiple access techniques like non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) technique, etc. The IoT is an emerging concept in which a variety of intelligent objects or things around us such as mobile phones, sensors, actuators, and radio frequency identification tags, etc., will be seamlessly integrated and will communicate and interact with each other to achieve common goals [item 5) in the Appendix]. In general, these networks aim at providing wireless services to all network users with good quality-of-service, and ubiquitous and high data rate connectivity. Along with their envisioned benefits, these emerging network bring numerous challenges, such as allocation and management of radio spectrum, co-existence of different networks, and explosively increased energy consumption, etc. The effective deployment of these networks and coping with the associated challenges rely on the optimal modeling and design of the networks as well as on optimization method and algorithms for optimal management and utilization of radio spectrum and consumption of energy resource.