Next-Generation Wireless and Mobile Network Technologies: Architectures, Protocols, and Applications

Topic Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Topic features selected papers from the 16th IFIP Wireless and Mobile Networking Conference (IFIP WMNC 2025, https://wmnc2025.esat.kuleuven.be/), to be held in the beautiful city of Leuven, Belgium, on 27–28 November 2025. Authors of accepted conference papers are invited to submit extended versions of their work for consideration in this publication.

IFIP WMNC 2025 will serve as a dynamic forum for researchers, practitioners, and students to exchange ideas on cutting-edge advancements in wireless and mobile networks, services, applications, and mobile computing. The event unifies three established conferences into a single venue: PWC (Personal Wireless Communications), MWCN (Mobile and Wireless Communication Networks), and WSAN (Wireless Sensor and Actor Networks). Submissions from outside the conference are also encouraged.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Wireless and mobile communication infrastructures and protocols.
• Design, optimization, and performance assessment of next-generation wireless technologies.
• Mobility, handoff strategies, and resource allocation in dynamic environments.
• Network and service orchestration, automation, and control frameworks.
• Cognitive radio systems, spectrum sharing, and massive MIMO networks.
• Security, privacy, and resilience in wireless communication protocols.
• Network modeling, traffic engineering, and performance analytics.
• Software-defined and programmable wireless networking.
• Wireless sensor, actuator, and cyber–physical systems.
• Energy-efficient and low-power wide-area networks (LPWANs).
• Connected vehicular networks and intelligent transportation systems.
• Communication technologies for the Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial IoT (IIoT).
• Ad hoc, mesh, and opportunistic networking with localization and tracking techniques.
• Mobile edge/cloud computing and emerging applications.
• Multicasting, broadcasting, and content distribution strategies.
• Autonomous and cooperative transportation communication systems.
• Content-centric networking, caching, and delivery frameworks.
• AI/ML-driven approaches for network management, optimization, and automation.
• Data fusion and integration of heterogeneous information, sensors, and knowledge sources.
• Wireless and mobile communication solutions for UAVs, drones, and unmanned aerial systems.

Dr. Peppino Fazio
Dr. Sofie Pollin
Dr. Danilo Amendola
Dr. Hazem Sallouha
Dr. Savio Sciancalepore
Topic Editors

Keywords

Participating Journals

Journal Name	Impact Factor	CiteScore	Launched Year	First Decision (median)	APC
Drones drones	4.8	7.4	2017	20.8 Days	CHF 2600
Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks jsan	4.2	9.4	2012	23.6 Days	CHF 2000
Sensors sensors	3.5	8.2	2001	17.8 Days	CHF 2600
Telecom telecom	2.4	5.4	2020	23 Days	CHF 1400

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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16 pages, 271 KB  

Open AccessArticle

Industrial 5G Adoption in Ayrshire, Scotland: Evidence, Barriers, and Implications for 6G

by Hamish Sturley, Pablo Salva-Garcia, Ahren Hart, Leon Irving, Chao Guo and Muhammad Zeeshan Shakir

Telecom 2026, 7(3), 57; https://doi.org/10.3390/telecom7030057 - 21 May 2026

Viewed by 117

Abstract

Fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks are widely positioned as key enablers of industrial digital transformation. However, despite extensive coverage expansion, the deployment landscape remains dominated by Non-Standalone (NSA) architectures integrated with legacy 4G cores, limiting the practical availability of advanced capabilities such as Ultra-Reliable [...] Read more.

Fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks are widely positioned as key enablers of industrial digital transformation. However, despite extensive coverage expansion, the deployment landscape remains dominated by Non-Standalone (NSA) architectures integrated with legacy 4G cores, limiting the practical availability of advanced capabilities such as Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC), Massive Machine-Type Communication (mMTC), and network slicing. This has contributed to a disparity between projected 5G functionality and realised industrial utility. This paper investigates the economic and structural factors constraining advanced 5G adoption and examines their implications for emerging sixth-generation (6G) frameworks. We conceptualise the current stagnation as arising from concurrent supply-side and demand-side constraints: elevated Radio Access Network (RAN) capital expenditure relative to previous generations, and limited demonstrable return on investment (ROI) for advanced service capabilities. To evaluate these dynamics empirically, a regional stakeholder study was conducted across industrial and public sector organisations in Ayrshire, Scotland. Data were collected through structured surveys and workshop-based questionnaires involving 34 participants, with proportional sectoral analysis performed to assess representativeness. The results indicate that high initial deployment costs and ROI uncertainty are the primary adoption barriers, with 45.83% of respondents reporting no immediate operational requirement for advanced 5G features. The findings identify an implementation gap in which economic viability, rather than technical feasibility, limits progression beyond basic 5G deployment. The paper argues that unless cost-efficiency and sector-specific value articulation are addressed, similar adoption constraints may extend into 6G development. These results provide empirically grounded insights to inform more economically aligned next-generation network planning. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Next-Generation Wireless and Mobile Network Technologies: Architectures, Protocols, and Applications)

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28 pages, 744 KB  

Open AccessReview

Seeing Without Being Seen: A Review of Ethical and Human-Centric ISAC in 6G

by Maria Gardano, Antonio Nocera, Michela Raimondi and Ennio Gambi

Telecom 2026, 7(3), 52; https://doi.org/10.3390/telecom7030052 - 5 May 2026

Viewed by 211

Abstract

Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC), enabling communication infrastructure to simultaneously transmit data and sense the surrounding physical environment, is emerging as a cornerstone technology for sixth-generation (6G) mobile networks. While these capabilities unlock new applications in healthcare, safety, and ambient intelligence, they also [...] Read more.

Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC), enabling communication infrastructure to simultaneously transmit data and sense the surrounding physical environment, is emerging as a cornerstone technology for sixth-generation (6G) mobile networks. While these capabilities unlock new applications in healthcare, safety, and ambient intelligence, they also introduce novel ethical and societal challenges related to privacy, transparency, user autonomy, and trust, which are values fundamental to the social acceptance of the technology. Firstly, an overview of academic, institutional, and industrial contributions on human-centric 6G is provided, with a focus on how ethical values are addressed in ISAC-related contexts. Secondly, this paper reviews the distinctive characteristics of ISAC through representative human-centric use cases involving non-interactive and often invisible sensing of people, highlighting the ethical and societal implications emerging from such scenarios. By analyzing current standardization efforts and the scientific literature, this paper identifies emerging trends in Key Values (KVs) relevant to ISAC, as well as open research gaps that must be addressed to support trustworthy and value-oriented ISAC design in future 6G networks. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Next-Generation Wireless and Mobile Network Technologies: Architectures, Protocols, and Applications)

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36 pages, 887 KB  

Open AccessArticle

Optimized Synchronization Design for UAV Swarm Network Based on Sidelink

by Hang Zhang, Hua-Min Chen, Qi-Jun Wei, Zhu-Wei Wang and Yan-Hua Sun

Drones 2026, 10(4), 304; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones10040304 - 18 Apr 2026

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Abstract

With the deployment and application of the Fifth-Generation (5G) mobile communication technologies and the ongoing research and development of the Sixth-Generation (6G) mobile communication technologies, the space–air–ground–sea integrated network has become the core development vision for future communications. As aerial nodes, Unmanned Aerial [...] Read more.

With the deployment and application of the Fifth-Generation (5G) mobile communication technologies and the ongoing research and development of the Sixth-Generation (6G) mobile communication technologies, the space–air–ground–sea integrated network has become the core development vision for future communications. As aerial nodes, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) can be applied in a wide range of scenarios, including emergency rescue, surveying and mapping, environmental monitoring, and communication coverage enhancement. In terms of communication coverage enhancement, the space–air–ground integrated network, with UAVs as a key component, can provide seamless communication coverage for the full-domain three-dimensional space such as remote areas, deserts, and oceans. Benefiting from advantages such as low cost and high flexibility, UAVs have become a critical research focus, and the one-hop Base Station (BS)–relay UAV–slave UAV architecture for communication coverage enhancement has emerged as an important development direction. However, the high mobility and wide coverage characteristics of UAVs also pose significant synchronization challenges. Aiming at the uplink synchronization problem on the sidelink between slave UAVs and the relay UAV, a two-step random-access scheme based on Asynchronous Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (A-NOMA) is designed to mitigate the Doppler Frequency Offset (DFO), improve access efficiency, reduce resource consumption, and accommodate the asynchrony among different users. This scheme leverages the existing preamble sequences of the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) and realizes DFO estimation in combination with the pairing index. On this basis, a Successive Interference Cancellation (SIC) algorithm based on DFO and phase compensation is designed to complete the demodulation of user data. For the downlink synchronization problem on the sidelink between slave UAVs and the relay UAV, the frequency offset estimation performance is improved by redesigning the resource allocation scheme of the Sidelink Synchronization Signal Block (S-SSB). Meanwhile, considering the energy constraint of UAVs, a downsampling-based detection scheme is designed to reduce UAV power consumption, and a full-link algorithm is developed to support the practical implementation of the proposed scheme. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Next-Generation Wireless and Mobile Network Technologies: Architectures, Protocols, and Applications)

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12 pages, 707 KB  

Open AccessArticle

Intelligent Vehicle Repeater for Satellite Networks: A Promising Device for Tourists and Explorers Without Terrestrial Networks

by Yitao Li and Conglu Huang

Telecom 2026, 7(1), 8; https://doi.org/10.3390/telecom7010008 - 7 Jan 2026

Viewed by 604

Abstract

Existing vehicle-mounted satellite terminals primarily rely on mechanical or purely analog electronically steered antennas. They lack protocol-level relay capability and usually provide only short-range hotspot connectivity. These limitations make it difficult for such systems to deliver stable, high-throughput satellite access for personal mobile [...] Read more.

Existing vehicle-mounted satellite terminals primarily rely on mechanical or purely analog electronically steered antennas. They lack protocol-level relay capability and usually provide only short-range hotspot connectivity. These limitations make it difficult for such systems to deliver stable, high-throughput satellite access for personal mobile devices in dynamic vehicular environments, especially in remote regions without terrestrial networks. This paper proposes an intelligent vehicle repeater for satellite networks (IVRSN) that builds a dedicated satellite–vehicle–device relay architecture. It enables reliable broadband connectivity for conventional mobile terminals without requiring specialized satellite hardware. The IVRSN consists of three key technical components. Firstly, a dual-mode relay coverage mechanism is designed to support energy-efficient in-vehicle access and extended out-of-vehicle coverage. Secondly, a DoA-assisted, attitude-compensated hybrid beamforming scheme is developed. It combines subspace-based direction estimation with inertial sensor measurements to maintain high-precision satellite pointing under vehicle dynamics. Finally, a bidirectional protocol conversion module is introduced to ensure compatibility between ground wireless protocols and satellite link-layer formats with integrity-checked data forwarding. Compared to existing solutions, the proposed IVRSN provides higher stability and broader device compatibility, making it a feasible solution for high-speed, high-quality communications in remote or disaster regions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Topic Next-Generation Wireless and Mobile Network Technologies: Architectures, Protocols, and Applications)

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