Call for Papers:
Technically endorsed by IEEE ComSoc Emerging Technical Initiative Backhaul/Fronthaul Networking and Communication (ETI-BNC), Workshop on Next Generation Backhaul/Fronthaul Networks – BackNets has been organized with the IEEE Flagship conferences since last 3 years. BackNets has been now considered as exclusive venue to accelerate the research and development in this area by providing a platform for both academic and industrial stakeholders to present and discuss innovative backhaul/fronthaul solutions and cutting-edge research and development. BackNets 2018 is expected to provide an opportunity for exchanging new ideas and creating new space for innovative game-changing backhaul solutions in solving the challenging problems of smart backhauling/fronthauling for 5G and beyond 5G (B5G) networks.
BackNets 2018 intends to cover wide spectrum of underlying backhaul/fronthaul themes including, but not limited to:
Area/Topics of interest:The topics of interest for the workshop include, but are not limited to:
Requirements and limitations for backhaul/fronthaul communications and networking (data rate, scalability, latency, cost effectiveness, etc.)
- Backhaul/fronthaul design and their capabilities for multi-tier ultra-dense heterogeneous small cell networks
- Hybrid backhaul/fronthaul solutions (wired/wireless, point-to-point (PtP)/Point-to-Multi-Point (PtMP), line-of-sight (LOS)/Non-line-of-sight (NLOS), etc.)
- PtP wireless backhaul/fronthaul interfaces for high data rate demanding links (LOS communications, multi-hop communications, e.g., FSO/Microwave based communications)
- Synchronization approaches and latency issues to combat delays introduced in backhaul/fronthaul operations
- Backhaul/fronthaul design requirements for rural and sparsely populated area
Emerging 5G technologies for Smart Backhaul/fronthaul solutions
- Networked flying platform (NFPs such as HAPs/MAPs/LAPs, unmanned balloons and airships, etc.) enabled backhaul/fronthaul design for ultra-dense and sparsely populated areas
- Massive MIMO based backhaul/fronthaul for ultra-dense small cell deployment
- Backhaul/fronthaul relaxation in heterogeneous networks including traffic offloading and data caching
- Joint design and optimization of radio access and backhaul/fronthaul networks
- Green backhaul/fronthaul solutions and energy consumption models for new backhaul/fronthaul technologies
- Software-defined radio/Cognitive radio based backhaul/fronthaul designs
- Migration to IP based backhaul/fronthaul design for 5G networks
Spectrum management for Backhaul/fronthaul communications and networking
- Usability of higher frequency bands for backhaul/fronthaul design (Free Space Optical (FSO)/mm-wave based communications)
- Scheduling techniques and radio resource management (RRM) in backhaul/fronthaul networks
- Orchestration of in-band and out-of-band frequency usage for backhaul/fronthaul
- Fronthaul issues over unlicensed frequency bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, 60 GHz (WiGig))
- Interference management in wireless backhaul/fronthaul networks, e.g., Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP), Cloud Radio Access Networks (CRAN), and Split frame architectures.
Backhaul/fronthaul deployment, standard and spectrum policy issues
- Backhaul/fronthaul convergence and application driven business models for commercial/regulatory deployments
- Comparative case studies with legacy backhaul networks
- Mobile backhaul/fronthaul standards and its implementation
- Regulatory and policy issues for backhaul/fronthaul communications
- Backhaul as a Service (BaaS) and self-organised heterogeneous backhaul
Workshop Organizers:
- Muhammad Zeeshan Shakir – University of the West of Scotland, UK, Email:Muhammad.Shakir@uws.ac.uk
- Muhammad Ali Imran – University of Glasgow, UK, Email: Muhammad.Imran@glasgow.ac.uk
- Walid Saad – Virginia Tech, US, Email: saad.walid@gmail.com
- Syed Ali Raza Zaidi – University of Leeds, UK, eenarz@leeds.ac.uk
- Ekram Hossain, University of Manitoba, Canada, Email: Ekram.Hossain@umanitoba.ca
- Hesham ElBakoury – Huawei, US, Email: Hesham.ElBakoury@huawei.com
Important Dates:
- Paper Submission Deadline:
1 July 201814 July, 2018 - Paper Acceptance Notification: 15 August 2018
- Camera-Ready: 15 September 2018
- Workshop Date: 13 December 2018