Special issue: wireless networking—some approaches to resources and QoS optimization

Abstract

Looking back at the evolution of the communications in the past three decades, we see a trend in accommodating more enriched mobile services with better and better Quality of service (QoS) in delivering data to end users. The “anywhere anytime best connected” idea is becoming more and more a reality. Wireless and mobile devices connecting people to the Internet are changing our lives and societies every day. Such devices include laptops, PDA, cell phones, portable media players, body sensors, building and environment monitoring sensors, and localization devices (e.g. GPS). The integration of multiple wireless and mobile technologies will enable more and more mobile services and applications in almost all activity domains including transportation, health, emergency services, business and commerce, social networking, and entertainment. All these applications have quality of service requirements (mainly in terms of delay, bandwidth, loss rate, reliability, and robustness) and security. Consequently the performance of wireless networks with guaranteed QoS and protected privacy is a major factor that will determine the success of the deployment of such networks. While still there are many discussions on what the next generation wireless and mobile networks would look like, it is commonly accepted that future networks should be collaborative and interoperable in order to accommodate all existing and future mobile technologies. Even if there is an intense competition between telecom operators, between service providers, between application providers, between device manufacturers, and so on, the ubiquitous mo-