Mobile Communication Research Research Articles

The origins of mobile communication research

The origins of mobile communication research

Futures in mobile communication research: Introduction to the special issue

Mobile communication’s embedding throughout social life has generated new directions in research and theory to understand changes in how people engage with others, the physical environment, and media content. As an early home for mobile communication research, New Media & Society is well-positioned to host this special issue, including eight articles themed around Futures in Mobile Communication Research. Although diverse in research traditions, the articles come together to reflect a shared historical influence as well as coherent themes around theory, methods, and ethics to help guide these and other futures in mobile communication research.

Social, seamless, just, and open: Advancing mobile communication research

Through integrating the research featured in this issue, this article describes generative areas for future research and the means to advance the impact of our field. Reflective practices related to field building and knowledge access for which Rich Ling helped to lay the groundwork are highlighted. Ling’s work in mobile media and telecommunications has influenced the theoretical, methodological, and empirical opportunities for mobile communication research. Four themes for future mobile communication research have emerged: social, seamless, just, and open. These themes align with the work featured in this issue and with Ling’s promotion of practices that enhance our field to develop relevancy, integrity, and ecological validity. This article places special focus on global and social justice as leading to a better understanding of mobile communication in the world.

The smartphone as a tool for mobile communication research: Assessing mobile campaign perceptions and effects with experience sampling

Mobile communication differs from other forms of mediated communication in terms of connectedness, dynamics, omnipresence, and interactivity. Consequently, it can be difficult for scholars to investigate mobile communication using traditional research methods. The main goal of this article is to show how the mobile experience sampling method (MESM), in combination with data donations, can be useful for addressing the challenges of mobile communication research. We explicate the design using an experience-sampling study that was conducted on mobile campaigning during the Dutch 2021 national election. Using this case, we discuss how MESM can be extended and combined with other data sources, such as tracking data, GPS, and sensory data, to address the challenges of mobile communication effects research and facilitate future studies.

Probably not a game: Playing with the AI in the ritual of taking pictures on the mobile phone

This research explores mediated ritual interactions in the form of pictures taken using a mobile device in tandem with two critical designs: Probably Not and World to GIF. We take our point of departure in Rich Ling’s understanding of mobile interaction as a ritual of social cohesion and social bonding to explore sociotechnical interactions with mobile technology. By means of playful critical interaction design methods, we explore how deviance from the ritual of mediated interaction through taking pictures on the mobile phone may enhance our understanding of artificial agents. Building upon Ling’s work, we mobilize the ritual aspect of mobile communication to open possibilities for imagining alternatives of seeing the world through artificial intelligence. We conclude by arguing that playful designs in mobile communication research may allow us to disassemble and reassemble mobile apps which enables critical reflection on the role of artificial agents in mobile rituals.

Tracking the temporal flows of mobile communication in daily life

Prior theoretical perspectives assert that mobile media and communication accelerate time perception. To test this hypothesis, we coupled mobile app logs and experience sampling to capture social app use and time perception in daily life. Participants ( N = 132) provided self-reports of time perception ( n = 9,081) and recordings of social app use ( n = 2,193,655). Although people perceived time as relatively fast on average, results did not support an overall link between social app use and accelerated time perception. Conversely, social media use—but not messaging use—was associated with decelerated time perception. In addition, observed relationships between social app use and time perception were consistent across individuals. We conclude by considering how future mobile communication research will be challenged to measure and model how temporal flows are interwoven with mobile connection in the background of daily life.

Looking back to look forward: 5G/COVID-19 conspiracies and the long history of infrastructural fears.

Almost as soon as the COVID-19 pandemic began spreading throughout much of the world, conspiracies arose that blamed the virus on the deployment of fifth-generation cellular networks (5G) infrastructure. These conspiracies had significant consequences, including protests against 5G and the destruction of 5G infrastructure. This article uses a media genealogy approach to place the 5G/COVID-19 conspiracies within the long and recurring cycle of conspiracies focused on mobile infrastructure. Placed within that broader history, this article argues that the 5G/COVID-19 conspiracies should have been unsurprising, and these types of infrastructural conspiracies should be a more significant part of mobile media and communication (MMC) research because infrastructures are an often invisible, yet crucial, part of the mobile practices studied within MMC research. The article concludes by theorizing about why mobile infrastructures are such a frequent target for conspiracy theories and argues that researchers should begin planning now for combatting the conspiracies that will almost inevitably arise when the next generation of mobile infrastructure gets linked to fears about public health.

The structure of knowledge and dynamics of scholarly communication in mobile media and communication research, 2013–2022

The structure of knowledge and dynamics of scholarly communication in mobile media and communication research, 2013–2022

A survey on increasing the capacity of 5G Fronthaul systems using RoF

Over the previous few decades, the need for wireless connectivity has exploded. Fifth generation (5G) communications, which have much more features than fourth-generation communications, will be widely implemented in the near future. Faster system capacity, faster data rates, lower latency, increased security, and improved quality of service (QoS) are just a few of the major issues that must be addressed beyond 5G. The goal of this research is to conduct a thorough investigation into ways for enhancing the capacity of 5G systems using Radio over Fiber (RoF). Existing mobile communication research is focused on 5G technologies. The major focus of this paper is the key provisions of the possible applications and technologies to be deployed for several wireless generations, particularly in 5G communication, its need and importance, the Centralized Radio Access Network (C-RAN) architecture used for 5G wireless systems, and the key points and analysis from resource allocation. When it comes to 5G technology, the mobile consumer has taken precedence over all others. Different modulation techniques and resource allocation schemes will be used to ensure this. This review study structured an assessment of the above-mentioned points made by many researchers, with the hope of assisting researchers in conducting further exploration in their next research to improve the field's general competency in handling resource allocation in 5G.

Observations on mobile communication and well-being research

Observations on mobile communication and well-being research

Mobile communication research in 15 top-tier journals, 2006–2020: An updated review of trends, advances, and characteristics

Benefiting from the smartphone turn in wireless telecommunication, studies about mobile telephony have continued to grow in the 3/4G era. To explore the growth trends in the 3/4G era, and what and how mobile media are studied, the present study analyzes patterns and trends of mobile communication research in 512 articles published in 15 top-ranked communication journals from 2006 to 2020. Findings indicate that mobile communication research has grown into a distinctive subfield or sub-discipline, defined by four main characteristics. First, the scope of mobile communication research is broader than studies of mobile media alone. Second, mobile media as global technologies have attracted international authors, although global scholarship is uneven. Third, the boundary of mobile communication has expanded from social, economic, and cultural perspectives to those of health, education, and tourism. Fourth, although mobile communication research is increasingly theory-informed, building distinctive theories about mobile communication remains a challenge for future growth.

Mobile Communications for Tourism and Hospitality: A Review of Historical Evolution, Present Status, and Future Trends

As the fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication technology captures public attention, reviewing the first to fourth generations with the anticipated implications of 5G and afterward, and future research would present a useful value to the literature. This study uses a systematic content analysis methodology to provide a comprehensive and interdisciplinary review of mobile communication research in tourism and hospitality to help academic researchers and industry practitioners understand the research area. The study also analyzes the future changes that mobile communication technologies and their applications will bring to tourism and hospitality research trends and industry practices. This study not only contributes to identifying some research gaps in the extant research, but can also provide significant theoretical guidance and practical implications for further academic and industrial research related to mobile communication technologies in tourism and hospitality.

Preserving Privacy Location in 5G by Using Variable Pseudonym

User privacy is one of the most issues addressed extensively in mobile communications evolutions, research literature, and standardization. Location privacy is a key parameter and crucial aspect for user privacy, where most of the tracking, Unsolicited advertising, malicious activities, and location-based terrorism attacks are depending on the location of the victims. For preserving location privacy, various methods in previous mobile networks use a pseudonym instead of permanent identity i.e. Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifiers (C-RNTI), However, these methods based on C-RNII have been proofed that faces many vulnerable due to the clear text used for C-RNII exchange. A man-in-the-middle attack can easily trace users and collect information. The main objective of this paper is to propose a new location privacy algorithm that can greatly enhance the capabilities of the 5G architecture. The proposed algorithm introduces a novel variable pseudonym (V-RNTI) as an identifier for the user radio channel. Also, it provides an enhanced pseudonyms allocation procedure for identification. A new procedure that enabling UE to use different values for V-RNTI changed frequently using agreed equations to generate the values of the identifier. The proposed scheme is compatible with 3GPP standards architecture, where minor modifications/upgrades are needed for UEs eNB. Specifically, we build our model of the 5G V-RNTI authentication protocol and perform an automated security verification tool analysis of the protocol model by using the ProVerif model checker. Our analysis results show that the proposed procedure is working without flaws.

Specific Strategies for Selection of 5G Networks Based on Computer NDN Technology

5G network is the main point of mobile communication research, as a new generation of mobile communication system, compared with 4 G network over-frequency utilization and energy efficiency, transmission rate and resource utilization is higher, user communication quality has been improved. This paper analyzes the 5 G fusion network access selection strategy under the framework of NDN technology network to determine the most suitable analysis method and algorithm to reduce the influence of various factors.

Imprint of transient electron localization in using circularly-polarized laser pulse* *Project supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (Grant No. 2018YFB1801904), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 12075036), and the Open Research Fund of National Mobile Communications Research Laboratory, Southeast University (Grant No. 2019D14).

Photoelectron momentum distribution of hydrogen molecular ion in a circularly polarized laser pulse is calculated by solving the three-dimensional time-dependent Schrödinger equation (3D-TDSE). At the intermediate internuclear distance, an unusual multi-peak structure is observed in the angular distribution, which is proved to be a signature of the transient localization of the electron upon alternating nucleus. By tracing the time-dependent ionization rate and bound state populations, we provide a clear evidence that the transient electron localization still exists in circularly polarized pulse and the corresponding multiple ionization bursts are directly mapped onto observable angular distributions. In addition, we introduce an intuitive strong-field approximation model which incorporates laser-induced subcycle internal electron dynamics to isolate the effect of the Coulomb potential of the parent ions. In this way, the timing of each ionization burst can be directly read out from the angular distributions. Our results suggest that the ionization time serves as a sensitive tool encoding intramolecular electron dynamics and can be measured using attoclock technique.

Consumer drones and communication on the fly

In this article, I discuss camera drones as mobile media that help access, collect, and shape physical, digital, and social spaces. As such, consumer drones afford “communication on the fly” in their medium-specific configuration of aerial navigation, visual production, and networked communication. Drawing on in-depth interviews with drone users and auto-ethnographic drone practices, I first highlight what physical-material conditions the flying camera mediates. An analysis of what digital-intangible formations the sensor medium collects and creates follows, before I turn to the sociospatial relations the buzzing mobile interface can establish and disrupt. I show how these conditions of communication on the fly shape user practices of place-sensing and place-making. Through the lenses of mobile communication research, media ecology, and mobilities studies, I ultimately illuminate how the ambiguous aerial system helps expand our thinking of and with notions of communication on the move.

Invisible Locative Media: Key Considerations at the Nexus of Place and Digital Journalism

Mobility and location-awareness are pervasive and foundational elements of contemporary communication systems, and a descriptive term to synthesize them, “locative media”, has gained widespread use throughout mobile media and communication research. That label of “locative media”, though, usually gets defined ad hoc and used in many different ways to express a variety of related ideas. Locative features of digital media increasingly have changed from visible location-driven aspects of user interfaces, such as check-in features and location badges, toward more inconspicuous ways of relating to location through automated backend processes. In turn, locative features—whether in journalism or other formats and content types—are now increasingly algorithmic and hidden “under the hood”, so to speak. Part of the problem with existing classifications or typologies in this field is that they do not take into account this practical shift and the rapid development of locative media in many new directions, intertwining ubiquitous digital integration with heterogeneous content distinctions and divergences. Existing definitions and typologies tend to be based on dated practices of use and initial versions of applications that have changed significantly since inception. To illustrate, this article identifies three emerging areas within digital journalism and mobile media practice that call for further research into the locative dimensions of journalism: <em>the situational turn in news consumption research</em>, <em>platform-specific vis-a-vis platform-agnostic mobile news production</em>, and <em>personalised news</em>.

Joint Interference Estimation and Detection in Uplink of Massive MIMO System

In this article, the joint detection in uplink are studied in Massive MIMO (Massive Multiple-input Multiple-output) system. This article will combine several precoding techniques such as ZF (Zero Force), MMSE (Minimum Mean Square Error), BD (Block Diagonalization) in interference estimation and propose a new structure for joint detection in uplink based on 5G simulation test platform of NCRL (National Mobile Communications Research Laboratory of SEU). Finally, this article will analysis feasibility of the new structure and give out simulation results.

Versatile mobile communications simulation: the Vienna 5G Link Level Simulator

Research and development of mobile communications systems require a detailed analysis and evaluation of novel technologies to further enhance spectral efficiency, connectivity and reliability. Due to the exponentially increasing demand of mobile broadband data rates and challenging requirements for latency and reliability, mobile communications specifications become increasingly complex. For this reason, analytic analysis as well as measurement-based investigations of link-level methods soon encounter feasibility limitations. Therefore, computer-aided numeric simulation is an important tool for investigation of wireless communications standards and is indispensable for analysis and development of future technologies. In this contribution, we introduce the Vienna 5G Link Level Simulator, a Matlab-based link-level simulation tool that facilitates research and development in mobile communications. Our simulator enables standard compliant setups according to 4G LTE, 5G NR and even beyond, making it a very flexible simulation tool. Offered under an academic use license free of charge to fellow researchers, it considerably enhances reproducibility in wireless communications research.

IEEE Future Directions 5G Initiative [From the Guest Editors

The articles in this special section examine the IEEE 5G Initiative. Presents recent fifth generation mobile communications (5G) research and development projects. 5G is the next generation wireless network that is expected to significantly increase capacity, improve data speeds, produce ultralow latency times, support multi-connectivity over multiple bands, and increase energy efficiency of network elements. Both research and industry communities are racing to develop the enabling technologies for 5G, considering the predicted date for real deployment by 2020. Similarly, standard bodies and government licensing institutions are working to solve the challenges associated with 5G, focusing on spectrum assignment and any other implications to current network legalizations.