5G Network Planning and Design

Dear Colleagues,

5G is around the corner, and there is a general consensus that it is poised to change the world as we know it! It promises a wireless future that will offer unprecedented connectivity for people, places, and things everywhere. Compared with former generations, 5G has been greatly enhanced; hence, it will need to address quite stringent requirements in order to live up to its potential and hyped expectations. 

New frequency bands; spectrums and their dynamic disposition to public and private organizations; and radio technologies that exploit advancements in massive MIMO and move from sector-level wide beams to user-centric, narrow, and dynamic beams, as well as a network architecture offering exceptional new levels of reliability, performance, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness, are some of the major features that have been or will need to be developed to support the myriad of future 5G application scenarios.

Most importantly, 5G networks are primarily oriented to users and verticals. Capitalizing on software and virtualized infrastructure, they will be flexible enough to accommodate for various heterogeneous and diverse applications and vertical requirements, in terms of speed, latency, dependability, etc. Innovations like 5G network slicing will let operators provision segments of their network capacity to deliver specific quality of service (QoS) levels to specific customers, whether that be a smart home, an Internet of Things (IoT)-based industry, or a connected car.

On the other hand, new use cases are going to appear that will consider the need to incorporate various technology innovations (5G-enabled localization accuracy, advances in UAV technology, big-data and AI/machine/deep learning technology, etc.), the need for planning for critical situations (e.g., COVID-9 pandemics), and  the opportunity to realize older objectives, such as the replacement of traditional, costly fiber-based rollouts by fixed wireless access based on 5G, etc.

This Special Issue, “5G Network Design and Planning”, recognizes these challenges, and raises opportunities and invites active researchers and industrial professionals to submit original articles focusing on innovative algorithms and methodologies, with a solid theoretical background and practicability, that will optimally exploit the latest advancements of 5G towards achieving the utmost efficiency in the way that 5G networks (Core, Backhaul/Fronthaul, and Access) are designed, planned, and eventually operated.

Prof. Dr. Kostas Tsagkaris
Guest Editors

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