IEEE Network -- SI on Wireless Mesh Networks

IEEE Network Magazine Special Issue on
Wireless Mesh Networks: Applications, Architectures and Protocols

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Wireless mesh network (WMN) technologies have been actively researched
and developed as key solutions to improve the performance and services
of wireless personal area networks (WPANs), wireless local area networks
(WLANs), and wireless metropolitan area networks (WMANs) for a variety
of applications, such as voice, data and video. Compared with mobile
ad hoc networks (MANETs), wireless sensor networks (WSNs) and
infrastructure-based mobile cellular networks, WMNs are (1) quasi-static
in network topology and architecture, (2) not resource constrained at
mesh routers and (3) easy and flexible to deploy. These technological
advantages are especially appealing to the emerging market requirements
on future wireless networks and services, such as flexible network
architecture, easy deployment and self-configuration, low installation
and maintenance costs, interoperable with the existing WPAN, WLAN and
WMAN networks, support of multiple radios and access methods,
hierarchical mobility management, ability to attain efficient frequency
reuse, high system capacity, reliable multi-hop and multi-path
communications. Potential applications of WMNs include broadband home
networking, community and neighbourhood networking, enterprise
networking, building automation, health and medical systems, public
safety and security systems, intelligent transportation systems,
emergency/disaster networking, metropolitan area broadband Internet
access and so on. This wide range of applications have different
technical requirements and challenges in the design and deployment of
mesh networking architectures, algorithms and protocols. This special
issue aims to systematically address a variety of technical challenges
and advanced solutions in the design, implementation and deployment of
mesh networking algorithms, equipments and applications.

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Scope of Contributions
======================

This special issue will present the state-of-the-art applications of
WMN technologies and the corresponding technical advances in the design
and deployment of feasible network architectures and protocols. We are
soliciting original survey and research articles written in a tutorial
manner comprehensible to the non-specialists. Contributions from
academic researchers, industrial engineers, equipment manufacturers and
service providers are all very welcome and will go through an open call-
for-papers and a rigorous peer review process. Specifically, topics of
interest include:

* Applications and usage scenarios, such as neighbourhood and community
networking, campus and enterprise networking, emergency and instant
networking, and wireless broadband Internet access services

* Network design and planning, such as homogeneous and heterogeneous
network architectures, tradeoff study of computation, storage and
bandwidth requirements for real implementations, techniques to ensure
network reliability, scalability and interoperability

* Network management and operation, such as self-configuration, self-
management, self-healing, low overhead control protocols for discovery,
establishment and maintenance of mesh networks

* Resource management algorithms and communication protocols, such as
MAC protocols, routing protocols, end-to-end QoS support and system-wide
admission control algorithms

* Performance analysis and optimisation, such as network capacity,
coverage, fairness, energy efficiency, frequency reuse and interference
management

* Standardization and internetworking of WPAN-, WLAN-, WMAN- and
cellular-based wireless mesh networks

* Mesh platforms, such as testbed experiments, design and deployment of
mesh nodes and networks with multiple radios, channels and antennas

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Manuscript Submission
=====================

The special issue will consider original research and survey articles
prepared in accordance to the guidelines of the IEEE Network magazine
(http://www.comsoc.org/pubs/net/ntwrk/authors.html) written in a tutorial
manner comprehensible to the non-specialists. The manuscripts must be
written in English and submitted electronically in PDF format with a
separate cover letter, which contains the paper title, authors,
affiliations, contact information, a 250-word abstract and 3-5 keywords,
via email to Dr. Yang Yang (YangYang@ieee.org) before the deadline.
Please prepare your manuscript in single-column and double-spaced format
with the font size larger than 10 points.

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Important Dates
===============

* Paper submission due date: April 15, 2007

* Notifications of acceptance: August 15, 2007

* Final version ready: October 1, 2007.

* Publication of the special issue: First Quarter 2008

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Guest Editors
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* Dr. Yang Yang, Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering,
University College London (UCL), London WC1E 6BT, UK. Email:
y.yang@ee.ucl.ac.uk

* Dr. Konstantina Papagiannaki, Intel Research Pittsburgh CM2, 4720 Forbes
Avenue, Suite 410, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA. Email:
dina.papagiannaki@intel.com

* Professor Song Ci, Department of Computer and Electronics Engineering,
University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 200B Peter Kiewit Institute, Omaha,
NE 68182, USA. Email: sci@engr.unl.edu

* Professor Sherman Shen, Department of Electrical and Computer
Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo
Ontario