Call For Papers
Elsevier Computer Networks Special Issue on

Network Softwarization and Intelligence at the Edge: Challenges and Opportunities

Network Function Virtualization (NFV) and Software-Defined Networking (SDN) have revolutionized the way network functions and services are offered, often pushing them towards the edge for enhanced performance and improved privacy. In recent years, we have seen the emergence of Edge Computing and Fog Computing paradigms, which provide computational, storage, and networking capabilities near to the end users, where data is produced. As a result, a wide range of new services and applications with diverse characteristics in terms of generated traffic, mobility, Quality of Service (QoS), and Quality of Experience (QoE) requirements have emerged, such as augmented and virtual reality, eHealth, Industry 4.0 and robotics, autonomous vehicles, and unmanned aerial vehicles. This means that a significant amount of data will be carried and selectively processed by the next-generation 5G & Beyond/6G softwarized edge networks, requiring new approaches to perform these tasks efficiently and effectively.

Another important aspect is the energy consumption of the increasing number of network and computational nodes at the edge. Energy-aware and carbon-free solutions that exploit the inherent capabilities of network virtualization and softwarization are necessary to make the best use of these nodes and reduce their environmental impact, ensuring real-time adaptation of the edge to changing network conditions without any impact on the QoS/QoE experienced by the end-users. Additionally, many innovative services and applications that require computation offloading at the edge can benefit from the execution of innovative tasks based on data-driven (distributed/federated) Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI), which will play a crucial role in softwarizing this segment of the network. The combined use of AI and Edge Computing enables the so-called Intelligent Internet of Intelligent Things (IIoIT), moving the intelligence from the central cloud to the edge.

With this in mind, the Special Issue on Network Softwarization and Intelligence at the Edge invites researchers to submit their original contributions on the use of softwarization and Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques at the Edge in 5G & Beyond/6G networks, as well as other related areas. We encourage to submit original and unpublished papers that address innovative and cutting-edge solutions where AI and Edge Networking are combined to enable the so-called Edge Network Softwarization and Intelligence.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

Novel solutions based on SDN and NFV for managing the network edge
Advanced methodologies and frameworks for AI-enabled 5G/6G edge networking
Strategies for managing SD-WAN at the network edge (e.g. related to orchestration, monitoring, design of vCPE/uCPE, and traffic engineering)
Service and network orchestration at the edge
Novel solutions for data-plane programmable edge devices (e.g. based on P4, eBPF, XDP, DPDK)
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at the edge
Serverless computing and Function-as-a-Service in edge network architectures
Challenges in integrating satellite, aerial, and terrestrial networks at the edge
Network-aware resource provisioning and resilience in 5G RAN and in the cloud-to-things continuum
Inter-data center networking
Advances to edge-to-edge tunneling technologies (e.g. VxLAN, IPSEC/GRE)
Challenges in far-edge networks for emerging ultra-low latency services
Strategies for increasing energy efficiency and reducing carbon footprint in edge networking
Solutions for supporting real-time applications at the edgeT (e.g. Tactile Internet, Immersive Gaming, applications related to Connected and Automated Vehicles and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles)
Enhancing edge networking use cases (e.g. Agriculture 4.0, Industry 4.0)
Solutions for enhancing privacy and security at the network edge (e.g. zero trust networks)
Approaches for network slicing and multi-tenancy of edge networks
Emerging solutions for network edge reliability and protection
Outcomes from experimental trials in the field of edge networking
Converged optical and wireless architectures at the edge
Important Dates:

Manuscript Submission Deadline: 10/09/2023
Acceptance Notification: 10/01/2024
Submission Guidelines:

The COMPNW's submission system (Editorial Manager) will be open for submissions to our Special Issue from March 10th, 2023. When submitting your manuscript please select the article type VSI:EdgeNetSoft.

Guest Editors:

Sebastian Troia, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
Marco Savi, University of Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
Christian Grasso, University of Catania, Catania, Italy
Frank Slyne, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Lihua Ruan, Peng Cheng Laboratory, Shenzhen, China
Michael Seufert, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany