Advanced Technologies in AI-Assisted 5G/6G Networking

Dear Colleagues,

It is a truism that the number of connected devices and amount of data consumed per device have been on a dramatic rise for wireless communication networks, the reasoning for this being manifold. First, the Internet of Things (IoT) technology, bringing a promise of connecting essentially everything (e.g., home appliances, traffic lights, wearable devices, etc.) to the internet, places the scalability issue on the table, as the number of connected devices is likely to unprecedentedly increase. With the advent of technology, on the other hand, more demanding applications, including 4K video streaming, online gaming, a tactile internet, remote surgery, and augmented/virtual reality, have already enacted their debut, stretching the limits of current wireless communication technologies. In this regard, various advanced technologies have recently been studied within the scope of 5G and 6G connectivity, such as, UAV-assisted networking, intelligent reflective surface (IRS)-based communications, millimeter wave (mmWave ) and terahertz (THz) communications, visible light communications, massive MIMO systems, holographic-type communication, etc. As of today’s knowledge and understanding, most of these promising technologies will be available in 5G or 6G, with mmWave having already been included in 5G New Radio as Frequency Range-2, and the idea of using THz communications for 6G is widely accepted in the wireless communications research community.

One important nature of the next-generation mobile communication networks is for them to be data-driven, meaning the systems would be managed in a data-oriented manner, one of multiple reasons, the most intuitive aspect, for that being that the amount of data generated has been increasing with an unprecedented rate. The IoT concept is the main cause for that, as it offers to connect a diverse set of devices to the internet, translating to a rise in the amount of data generated, which can then be used in favor of wireless communication networks with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) by extracting the valuable and useful information. This, in turn, helps determine more informed decisions and act proactively. AI has been applied in various domains, from agriculture to finance, but it has a special place in wireless communications as well due to the fact that it is able to cause the processes to be more efficient, effective, agile, and dynamic. In 6G, for example, AI has been considered a main component of the ecosystem, since intelligence will play a vital role in the next-generation wireless networks.

Furthermore, when it comes to the optimization of wireless networks, conventional methods will be insufficient, given that the main characteristics of wireless communication networks is being quite dynamic in nature, meaning that the circumstances and conditions change very fast and frequently. In addition, there are multiple random effects, including shadowing, noise, interference, etc., causing the network to be much less predictable and almost impossible to obtain a model of such environments. This challenges the conventional optimization techniques as they usually require the model of the environment in advance, with it being hard for them to adopt to altering environments. An AI-based optimization, especially through reinforcement learning, could be designed model-free, thereby not requiring the model of the environment for optimization, since an experience created by AI is much more adaptable to changes.

This Special Issue aims to generate a collective understanding of how AI could be helpful in building advanced technologies for next-generation wireless communication networks, particularly 5G and 6G, as well as to reveal the potentials of AI in optimizing, managing, and enabling the wireless networks. Lastly, it is also important to demonstrate the applicability and feasibility of the aforementioned technologies for 5G and 6G networks, and their interoperability with AI. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome, research areas including (but not limited to) the following:

• AI-assisted UAV-based communications for capacity enhancement and emergency scenarios;
• The role of AI in intelligent reflective surface (IRS)-based communications;
• V2V, V2I, and V2X communications;
• Millimeter wave communications;
• THz communications;
• Context-aware wireless networking;
• AI-assisted PHY and networking;
• Green communications;
• Visible light communications;
• AI-assisted MAC layer solutions for 5G and 6G;
• The help of AI in faster-than-Nyquist (FTN) signaling;
• The integration of big data and AI for wireless networks;
• Intelligent nobility management mechanisms for 5G and 6G;
• 6G satellite communications.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Metin Öztürk
Dr. Sajjad Hussain
Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ali Imran
Guest Editors

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