Cities around the world have been transforming in a revolutionary way to provide a vast range of services deemed to be safer, faster, greener and smarter than the legacy ones. On the one hand, the realization for smart cities is facing enormous challenges imposed by rapid urbanization with massive influx of migrants, congested traffic and severe air pollution, as well as explosive growth of new businesses. On the other hand, Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) such as 5G-and-beyond communications have played an increasingly instrumental role in shaping smart cities by fulfilling/enabling various ever-growing new requirements and use cases. Recently, major advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) along with ICT have further brought in a huge number of opportunities for enhanced smart cities by rapidly learning and analyzing huge amount of big data from many different sectors. By combining the Internet-of-Things, smart homes, smart factories, and smart mobilities into a coherent infrastructure, it is envisaged that future cities will evolve into huge cyber-physical systems and finally digital-physical twinning world, enabling unprecedentedly fast and reliable interactions between human beings, infrastructure, and technologies.
This special issue targets a timely coverage of the latest research advances on cutting-edge communication and networking techniques which have played an increasingly instrumental role in smart cities. Specifically, we aim to investigate and address the following two major research problems:
1) How 5G-and-beyond communication and networking technologies are tailored and optimized for efficiently and intelligently serving different vertical industries (such as transportation, energy, water supply, manufacturing, and telemedicine) in modern cities, and
2) How different AI and ML techniques can work along with these ICT technologies for enhanced delivery of a vast range of new services and businesses? The research outcomes of this special issue are expected to influence both academia and industry working on smart cities, as well as to generate a significant impact on relevant policy makers and service providers for employment of new technologies.
This Research Topic focuses on the state-of-the-art of 5G-and-beyond communications, networks and systems, as well as their applications/services in smart cities. The themes of interest include, but are not limited to:
• 5G-and-beyond network architecture;
• 5G-and-beyond access and transmission technologies;
• 5G network function virtualization/network slicing/orchestration;
• AI/machine learning-enabled optimization and communications for smart cities;
• Cloud/edge/fog/dew computing and applications/services for smart cities;
• Cyber-physical systems;
• Internet of Things/Everything (IoT/IoE);
• IoT applications/services with ultra-low latency and/or enhanced security;
• IoT-enabled smart grid;
• Machine-type communications and non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) communications for massive connectivity;
• Smart factory/intelligent manufacturing-Industry 4.0;
• Smart home such as smart metering and remote healthcare monitoring;
• Smart mobilities including intelligent transportation, UAV-based communications, cellular V2X, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), and visible light communications (VLC);
• Video surveillance and city securities.
The experts of the field are invited to submit their high-quality and original works for evaluation in this Research Topic. Both theoretical and simulation results as well as survey and case study papers are of interest. Authors from both academia and industry are welcome to submit new research results on how 5G-and-beyond communication and networking technologies as well as emerging AI and ML techniques can work together for enhanced delivery of a vast range of new services and businesses. It is anticipated that these new research results can lead to new design paradigms and solutions for safer, faster, greener and smarter cities.
Cities around the world have been transforming in a revolutionary way to provide a vast range of services deemed to be safer, faster, greener and smarter than the legacy ones. On the one hand, the realization for smart cities is facing enormous challenges imposed by rapid urbanization with massive influx of migrants, congested traffic and severe air pollution, as well as explosive growth of new businesses. On the other hand, Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) such as 5G-and-beyond communications have played an increasingly instrumental role in shaping smart cities by fulfilling/enabling various ever-growing new requirements and use cases. Recently, major advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) along with ICT have further brought in a huge number of opportunities for enhanced smart cities by rapidly learning and analyzing huge amount of big data from many different sectors. By combining the Internet-of-Things, smart homes, smart factories, and smart mobilities into a coherent infrastructure, it is envisaged that future cities will evolve into huge cyber-physical systems and finally digital-physical twinning world, enabling unprecedentedly fast and reliable interactions between human beings, infrastructure, and technologies.
This special issue targets a timely coverage of the latest research advances on cutting-edge communication and networking techniques which have played an increasingly instrumental role in smart cities. Specifically, we aim to investigate and address the following two major research problems:
1) How 5G-and-beyond communication and networking technologies are tailored and optimized for efficiently and intelligently serving different vertical industries (such as transportation, energy, water supply, manufacturing, and telemedicine) in modern cities, and
2) How different AI and ML techniques can work along with these ICT technologies for enhanced delivery of a vast range of new services and businesses? The research outcomes of this special issue are expected to influence both academia and industry working on smart cities, as well as to generate a significant impact on relevant policy makers and service providers for employment of new technologies.
This Research Topic focuses on the state-of-the-art of 5G-and-beyond communications, networks and systems, as well as their applications/services in smart cities. The themes of interest include, but are not limited to:
• 5G-and-beyond network architecture;
• 5G-and-beyond access and transmission technologies;
• 5G network function virtualization/network slicing/orchestration;
• AI/machine learning-enabled optimization and communications for smart cities;
• Cloud/edge/fog/dew computing and applications/services for smart cities;
• Cyber-physical systems;
• Internet of Things/Everything (IoT/IoE);
• IoT applications/services with ultra-low latency and/or enhanced security;
• IoT-enabled smart grid;
• Machine-type communications and non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) communications for massive connectivity;
• Smart factory/intelligent manufacturing-Industry 4.0;
• Smart home such as smart metering and remote healthcare monitoring;
• Smart mobilities including intelligent transportation, UAV-based communications, cellular V2X, dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), and visible light communications (VLC);
• Video surveillance and city securities.
The experts of the field are invited to submit their high-quality and original works for evaluation in this Research Topic. Both theoretical and simulation results as well as survey and case study papers are of interest. Authors from both academia and industry are welcome to submit new research results on how 5G-and-beyond communication and networking technologies as well as emerging AI and ML techniques can work together for enhanced delivery of a vast range of new services and businesses. It is anticipated that these new research results can lead to new design paradigms and solutions for safer, faster, greener and smarter cities.