Dear Colleagues,

Network slicing, as the most significant enabling technology of the 5G era, allows multiple logical networks (network slices) to share the same telecommunication network infrastructure. It brings to 5G networks enhancements in flexibility, resource efficiency, and security; and thereby identifies 5G with a capability of specialization with respect to highly heterogeneous service types. Empowered by network slicing, 5G systems are capable of fulfilling the extreme performance requirements of emerging use scenarios such as ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), and create novel business paradigms such as Slice-as-a-Service (SlaaS).

Shifting from the classical one-size-fits-all network topology for mixed data traffic to use-case-dependent network slice specification, from the layer-by-layer hierarchical designing approach to the cross-layer design towards end-to-end performance, the deployment of network slicing fundamentally changes the way we design, construct, operate, and manage mobile networks. Thereby, it raises technical challenges in all perspectives related to networking, including architectural design, technical enablers, business issues, optimization methods, and security concerns. In this Special Issue we solicit original papers in areas including but not limited to:

• Architectural design of network slicing for industrial verticals;
• End-to-end network slicing;
• Energy efficiency of sliced networks;
• Machine learning and artificial intelligence for network slicing;
• Network slicing framework for the integration of terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks;
• Network slicing with heterogeneous radio access technologies;
• New business models in network slicing;
• Privacy and security in network slicing;
• Resource provisioning, orchestration, and management for network slicing;
• Service-level agreement design for sliced networks;
• Sliced network operation and management;
• Technologies of software-defined networks and network function virtualization.

This is a joint special issue with Network.

Dr. Bin Han
Prof. Dr. Simon Pietro Romano
Prof. Dr. Patrick Seeling
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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.

• network slicing
• cross-layer design
• E2E
• heterogeneous networks
• network function virtualization