Wireless Communications for Internet of Things and Vehicular Networks

Dear Colleagues,

Wireless communications for the Internet of Things (IoT) and vehicular networks are rapidly evolving as 5G-Advanced transitions toward 6G, enabling large-scale connectivity, ultra-low latency, and high-reliability services. This Special Issue focuses on emerging communication paradigms, architectures, and intelligent techniques that support massive IoT deployments and next-generation vehicular networks, including Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs), Vulnerable Road Users (VRUs) protection, and Cooperative Intelligent Transportation systems (C-ITS).

Recent research trends highlight the convergence of cellular IoT and vehicular communications through lightweight device classes, flexible numerologies, and sidelink enhancements to support scalable, energy-efficient, and mobility-aware services. The integration of Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs) is expanding IoT and vehicular coverage to remote and underserved areas, enabling seamless connectivity beyond terrestrial infrastructure. At the same time, edge computing and mobile edge intelligence are becoming essential to support real-time decision-making for safety-critical vehicular applications and latency-sensitive IoT services.

Artificial intelligence is playing a central role in enabling adaptive resource allocation, distributed scheduling, interference management, and context-aware networking. Learning-based techniques, including federated, edge, and multi-agent learning, are increasingly adopted to handle dynamic environments while preserving scalability and privacy. In parallel, emerging concepts such as Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC), Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RISs), and semantic-aware communications are reshaping how wireless systems perceive, adapt to, and interact with their environments.

This Special Issue invites original research contributions addressing theoretical foundations, system design, algorithm development, simulations, and experimental validations related to IoT and vehicular wireless communications.

Topics of interest (but not limited to) are as follows:

• Wireless communication architectures for massive IoT and vehicular networks.
• Cellular IoT and NR-V2X evolution toward 5G-Advanced and 6G systems.
• Distributed and AI-enabled resource allocation, scheduling, and congestion control.
• Edge computing and edge intelligence for IoT and vehicular applications.
• Cooperative perception, platooning, and collective intelligence in vehicular networks.
• IoT–vehicular network coexistence and cross-layer design.
• Integrated sensing and communications for intelligent transportation systems.
• Non-terrestrial network support for IoT and vehicular connectivity.
• Reconfigurable intelligent surfaces for coverage, reliability, and energy efficiency.
• Learning-based mobility management, handover, and beam management.
• Ultra-reliable and low-latency communication for safety-critical applications.
• Semantic-aware and context-aware wireless communications.
• Network slicing and quality-of-service provisioning for heterogeneous IoT and V2X services.
• Security, privacy, and trust management in IoT and vehicular networks.
• Energy-efficient communication protocols for battery-constrained IoT and vehicular devices.
• Interoperability across cellular, IEEE-based, and hybrid wireless technologies.
• Experimental testbeds, field trials, and real-world deployments for IoT and vehicular systems.

Dr. Malik Saad
Dr. Muhammad Azfar Yaqub
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Electronics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.