Internet of Things and Edge Computing in the New 5G Era

Currently, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Edge Computing are among the hottest issues of Future Internet. On the one hand, the IoT is the most important concept for providing a common global IT Platform to combine seamless networks and networked things. Edge Computing, on the other hand, is recently made possible and successful thanks to the availability of many edge devices in our homes/offices and the proliferation of smart phones and connected vehicles. These two concepts can be used interchangeably when the everyday objects in our living/working environment have the monitoring and processing capabilities making them to follow concepts of Edge, Pervasive, and Cloud Computing. In the Future Internet, people will be connected Anytime, Anyplace, with Anything and Anyone, appropriately utilizing Any networks and Any Services. Such a vision leverages on the two concepts of Edge Computing and IoT, but requires novel solutions/technologies to cope with the increasing bandwidth demands, network security, scalability, resiliency and availability needs, and effective and efficient data management/processing. The possible and promising answer to these requirements/needs is represented by the set of technologies/solutions composing the 5G. The mmWave links may offer higher data rates/bandwidth, the network softwarization, and virtualization promise to provide high-level Quality of Service (QoS) to the various IoT tasks/components/services. 5G-related technologies pave the way for novel data processing/management architecture where analytics and AI are leaving the core of the network and coming closer to the user devices. However, many 5G technologies exhibit challenges that are currently under investigation, from the security/effectiveness of the mmWave radio communications, SDN/NFV architectures to support IoT, the interplay with cloud computing and the possibility of leveraging on 5G to device Fog/Edge Computing solutions, and so on.

The aim of this Special Issue in Digital Communication and Networks is to provide timely and comprehensive overviews of the current state-of-the-art fundamental innovations in terms of theoretical and technological advances within the context of 5G to its application to IoT and Edge Computing. We also solicit contributions coming from the industrial community to present concrete applications of these novel solutions and technologies in the recent concrete solution and platforms, for the realization of the smart city and factories.

Topics of Interest:

Preferred topics in this issue include (but are not limited to):

• Wireless Powered Communications in 5G for IoT and Edge Computing
• Multimedia Computing and Communications in 5G and Beyond
• 5G-Enabled Architecture for IoT and Edge Systems
• Ultra-Dense Cellular IoT Networks
• Integration of 5G and Edge Computing
• Network Function Virtualization in Edge and Cloud Computing
• Service Function Chaining in Edge and Cloud Computing
• Edge and Cloud Computing for Emerging AR/VR/MR Media Applications
• Big Data Analytics, Processing and Applications
• Cyber Security and Fault-Tolerance Solutions in 5G-Enabled IoT and Edge Computing
• Edge Intelligence for IoT and 5G Networks

Paper Submission:

Digital Communications and Networks (DCN), indexed by SCIE and Scopus and fully open access through ScienceDirect, publishes rigorously peer-reviewed and high-quality original articles and authoritative reviews. Only original and unpublished research papers will be considered in this special issue. Authors should follow the DCN manuscript format described in the Information for Authors at DCN journal website (http://www.keaipublishing.com/dcan). Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy to the Elsevier DCN on-line manuscript system via https://www.evise.com/profile/#/DCAN/login, according to the following timetable and choose the article type as “SI: IoT-Edge-5G”.

Time Table:

• Paper Submission: December 1st, 2019
• First-Round Review Notification: February 1st, 2020
• Notification of Acceptance: April 15th, 2020
• Camera Ready Paper Submission: June 1st, 2020
• Tentative Publication: August-October 2020

Guest Editors:

• Dr. Xin Su, Hohai University, China 
• Prof. Marek R. Ogiela, AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland 
• Prof. Chang Choi, Chosun University, Korea 
• Dr. Christian Esposito, University of Naples “Federico II”, Italy 
• Dr. Kiho Lim, William Paterson University of New Jersey, USA