The IEEE Communications Standards Magazine aims to be a platform for presenting and discussing a broad variety of standards-related topics in the area of communications. This quarterly magazine will cover areas of communication and networking standards, as well as the role of standards in technical innovation in communications, the effect of intellectual property on communication technology standardization, and research on standardization methodologies in communications. Contributions are encouraged from areas and disciplines that impact the development, adoption, and impact of communications standards on industry and society, such as standards development processes, economics of standards, and the role of national and international policies and regulations on standardization.

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Special Issue on Future Mobile Care
Submission Date: 2025-07-31

The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), a global collaboration of telecommunications standard organizations, plays a pivotal role in advancing mobile communications standards. 3GPP focuses on several key areas, from device to RAN and the core. The mobile core network has evolved across multiple generations. Although extensive research and discussion exist regarding the evolution of the radio access network, the attention of the community is much less oriented to the vision, value proposition, and architecture of the future core network. The 6G standardization discussion is just starting, and there has been a glaring lack of progress on the evolution of the mobile core: the ongoing emphasis on cloudification has shifted attention away from defining the future core network’s broader role and technological innovations, creating a gap in the standardization effort. 

Standards are critical in the communications industry, ensuring interoperability, guiding development, and fostering innovation. As the core becomes increasingly integral to all networking, addressing the standardization of new core concepts is essential. This includes developing standards for core architecture, interfaces, functions, and increasingly deployment options. This is the proper time to collect concerns, ideas and technologies, before the subject becomes established in the standardization fora. The Special Issue (SI) will discuss the architectures, features, and capabilities needed in future mobile core and their future standardization paths (and not necessarily only 3GPP). 

This Special Issue (SI) aims to bring together a diverse range of contributions, covering both theoretical and practical aspects. The scope of the SI for mobile core includes, but is not limited to, the following topics:

    Mobile core architecture evolution.
    Mobile core realizations.
    Mobile core features.
    Business and technical requirements for the mobile core.
    Analysis of current shortcomings in the mobile core.
    Mobile core for industry and vertical specialization.
    Novel virtualization technologies for mobile core.
    New ideas for mobile core implementation.
    Standardization orientations and trends.
    Privacy, security, and regulatory aspects.
    Performance analysis and evaluation.
    Interoperability and testing.
    Testbeds, proof of concepts, field trials, and commercial deployments.

Submission Guidelines

Manuscripts should conform to the standard format indicated in the Information for Authors section of the Paper Submission Guidelines. All manuscripts to be considered for publication must be submitted by the deadline through Manuscript Central. The timetable is as follows:

Important Dates

Manuscript Submission Deadline: 31 July 2025
Authors Revision Notification Date: 1 September 2025
Revised Manuscript Submission Deadline: 1 November 2025
Final Decision Notification Date: 1 December 2025
Camera-ready Files: 15 December 2025
Guest Editorial/Column: 15 January 2026
Publication Date: March 2026

Guest Editors

Rui Luis Aguiar
Instituto de Telecomunicações, Networld Europe                  

Periklis Chatzimisios
International Hellenic University                            

Namseok Ko
Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute          

Xu (Tony) Xia
China Telecom Research Institute                           

Huanzhuo Wu
Nokia    

Special Issue on Waveforms in 6G and Beyond
Submission Date: 2025-07-31

Waveform design is a cornerstone of wireless communication systems, directly shaping the performance, efficiency, and resilience of networks. As the world progresses toward the sixth generation of wireless communication (6G) and beyond, the demands on waveforms have grown increasingly complex. Future wireless networks are expected to deliver ultra-high data rates, near-zero latency, massive connectivity, and seamless integration with emerging technologies, like artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing. The limitations of current waveforms, such as Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), highlight the need for innovation. Advanced candidates, like Orthogonal Time Frequency Space (OTFS), Orthogonal Delay Division Multiplexing (ODDM), Affine Frequency Division Multiplexing (AFDM), and others are emerging as promising solutions to address the unique challenges of 6G. These waveforms are being tailored to operate effectively in terahertz (THz) and millimeter-wave (mmWave) bands, high-mobility scenarios, ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), and integrated sensing and communication (ISAC).

The advent of these advanced waveforms presents an opportunity to redefine the foundations of wireless communication. By optimizing spectral efficiency, energy efficiency, and robustness in dynamic environments, these innovations pave the way for a future of intelligent, adaptive, and secure networks.

This Special Issue (SI) seeks to bring together researchers, industry experts, and practitioners to explore the latest advancements, challenges, and opportunities in waveform design for 6G and beyond. We aim to highlight state-of-the-art research and foster interdisciplinary collaboration that will shape the next generation of wireless networks. Prospective authors are invited to submit articles on topics including, but not limited to:

    Novel waveform designs for 6G and beyond.
    Waveform optimization for terahertz and millimeter-wave communication.
    Doppler resilience and channel dynamics in high-mobility environments.
    Adaptive waveforms leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning.
    Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) waveform development.
    Energy-efficient and green waveform designs.
    Spectrum coexistence and interference management.
    Security and robustness in waveform communication.
    Experimental demonstrations and real-world validations.
    Standardization pathways for advanced waveforms.
    Waveform applications in smart cities, autonomous vehicles, and IoT.
    Trade-offs between legacy and emerging waveforms.
    Advanced signal processing for waveform implementation.

Submission Guidelines

Manuscripts should conform to the standard format indicated in the Information for Authors section of the Paper Submission Guidelines. All manuscripts to be considered for publication must be submitted by the deadline through Manuscript Central. The timetable is as follows:

Important Dates

Manuscript Submission Deadline: 31 July 2025
Authors Revision Notification Date: 1 September 2025
Revised Manuscript Submission Deadline: 1 November 2025
Final Decision Notification Date: 1 December 2025
Camera-ready Files: 15 December 2025
Guest Editorial/Column: 15 January 2026
Publication Date:  March 2026

Guest Editors

Weijie Yuan
Southern University of Science and Technology, China

Perry Wang
Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, US

Hamed Ahmadi
University of York, UK