Next Generation Radio Communication Technologies

Dear Colleagues,

The fifth generation (5G) of wireless communications is currently being deployed to support three classes of services with heterogeneous requirements and a variety of innovative vertical uses cases: enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine-type communications (mMTC), and ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC). Simultaneously, a brand-new set of demanding use cases and technology innovations is leading to the development of the sixth generation (5G+/6G) of wireless communications. In 5G+/6G networks, added features such as support for intelligent connected devices, even higher user data rates, and service interconnectivity are expected, requiring the coexistence of the three aforementioned heterogeneous services. In these new scenarios, features such as extreme broadband, higher performance, lower end-to-end latency, greater autonomy, and near instant and reliable connectivity to enable massive data exchange are necessary. In other words, 5G+/6G technology for verticals and advanced applications, enabled by eMBB, mMTC and URLLC integration, is supposed to be faster and provide services of higher quality, greater agility and efficiency, and flexible spectrum management, enabling higher degrees of resource sharing and efficiency. However, this results in highly advanced challenges. Thus, in order to deal with the huge complexity and find an optimal solution to the demanding challenges, artificial intelligence (AI) can be a key technology in many applications, mainly due to its adaptive capabilities, and it has been considered in many analytical, simulation, and experimental works.

In this context, this Special Issue aims to gather innovative contributions concerning the next generation of radio communication technologies. We welcome both original research and review articles.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

- 5G open issues on mMTC and URLLC;

- Energy-efficient communications, including distributed backscatter and battery-less devices;

- Adaptive and highly efficient physical layer waveforms, including modulation, coding, and multiple access;

- Advances on (full-)duplex techniques;

- Cell-free and massive MIMO technology;

- Adaptive resource management and scheduling;

- Smart and/or dynamic spectrum assignment and sharing;

- Millimeter wave technology and terahertz bands;

- Novel antenna technologies;

- Comprehensive AI for planning, prediction, detection, and self-healing;

- Advanced signal processing techniques, devices, and tools;

- Software radios and smart radios;

- Next-generation radio access networks;

- Non-terrestrial networks;

- Open specifications, architectures, and interfaces.

Dr. Arnaldo Silva Rodrigues de Oliveira
Prof. Dr. Nuno Carvalho
Dr. Hugerles Sales Silva
Guest Editors

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