Emerging Trends in Wireless Sensor Networks

Dear Colleagues,

The Special Issue aims to address a few complementary aspects of emerging trends in the distributed sensor systems research. The overall aim is to highlight selected driving technologies, approaches and principles that will enable the next generation of Internet of Things systems and their effective take up in smart society and economy.

Such novel technologies include the wireless provisioning of power as well as the effective harvesting of energy towards improving the efficiency of wireless communication systems and networks. Wireless power transfer (WPT) is the driving technology that will enable the next generation of distributed sensor systems, including battery-less sensors, passive RFID, as well as IoT, 5G and M2M solutions. Distributed WPT-enabled devices can be powered by harvesting energy from the surroundings (for example, electromagnetic energy), leading to a novel communication systems networks paradigm, the wirelessly powered systems and networks. Both tools and techniques to design (or improve) relevant distributed operations using WPT, as well as results from the analysis of data obtained through this enabler, are welcome in the Special Issue.

Moreover, 5G and beyond networks are evolving towards a competitive environment, where users have access to various resources, while their behaviors become strongly interdependent. This fact motivates the development of user-centric resource management frameworks, which enable users’ self-optimization and autonomy. This vision is further supported by the convergence of various emerging technologies enabling cyber-physical systems operation, including 5G/B5G technologies, Internet of Things (IoT), multi-access edge computing and software-defined networking, all targeting flexibility and efficiency.

A final perspective is to investigate how such emerging technologies can underpin the design and development of sustainable and highly efficient socio-technical systems, eventually enabling the transition to a smart circular economy. Future and emerging technologies, such as 5G networks, Internet of Things, distributed ledger technologies, and crowdsourced systems will play an important role in the transition to a circular economy, by enabling resources to be monitored, shared, reused, and repurposed in the context of innovative  business and operation models. Relevant research outcomes, experiences and lessons learnt from academia, industry and local communities are welcome in this Special Issue.

Dr. Constantinos Marios Angelopoulos
Prof. Dr. Sotiris Nikoletseas
Dr. Theofanis P. Raptis
Prof. Dr. Eirini Eleni Tsiropoulou
Guest Editors

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