Massive MIMO and Other Advanced Antenna Techniques for 5G/6G Wireless Systems
A special issue of Electronics (ISSN 2079-9292). This special issue belongs to the section "Microwave and Wireless Communications".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 March 2026 | Viewed by 21
Special Issue Editors
Interests: massive MIMO; intelligent reflecting surfaces; physical layer security
Interests: wireless communications; network security; network modeling and optimization
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The continuous evolution of wireless communication technologies has driven significant advancements to support the rapidly increasing demand for high-speed data rates, ultra-reliable connectivity, and exceptionally low latency. Massive multiple-input multiple-output (mMIMO) technology has been pivotal in meeting these stringent requirements for 5G networks and is anticipated to play an even more critical role in future 6G wireless systems, where unprecedented data rates, ultra-massive connectivity, and extensive sensing capabilities are required. However, mMIMO alone cannot satisfy all future demands, necessitating the exploration and integration of other advanced antenna technologies such as intelligent surfaces, movable antennas, and fluid antennas.
Next-generation reconfigurable antenna (NGRA) technologies, including movable antennas, fluid antennas, pixel-based antennas, and metasurfaces, have emerged as promising solutions to further enhance network flexibility and adaptability. Specifically, movable and fluid antennas provide unprecedented degrees of freedom by dynamically adjusting antenna characteristics such as shape, size, and orientation. This capability substantially improves spatial resolution, enabling novel techniques like compact ultra-massive antenna arrays (CUMA) and fluid antenna multiple access (FAMA), which effectively mitigate interference and enhance communication reliability.
Integrating these innovative antenna technologies with other cutting-edge methods, such as reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RISs), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), integrated sensing and communications (ISAC), non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), and vehicular-to-everything (V2X) communications, can further elevate network performance. Recent studies emphasizing the synergies between movable/fluid antennas and holographic MIMO systems, particularly enhanced by artificial intelligence (AI), reveal exciting new research directions and opportunities for substantial performance improvements.
This Special Issue invites high-quality original research articles and comprehensive reviews addressing both theoretical and practical aspects of mMIMO and advanced antenna technologies in the context of 5G/6G networks. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, system modeling, performance analysis, optimization algorithms, novel channel estimation techniques, advanced interference mitigation strategies, AI-assisted antenna management, and real-world experimental implementations. The outcomes of these studies will bridge the gap between theory and practice, providing valuable insights and directions to shape the future of wireless communications.
Dr. Huan Huang
Dr. Tianqi Yu
Dr. Jide Yuan
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- massive MIMO
- reconfigurable antennas
- integrated sensing and communications
- artificial intelligence
- wireless networks
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