Editorial introduction

Abstract

We are pleased to present this special issue “Recent Trends in the Mathematics of Wireless Communication Networks: Algorithms, Models, and Methods.” Wireless communication systems have experienced a spectacular expansion over the last few decades, now providing the predominant means of Internet access. The capacity of these systems is constrained by a set of scarce resources such as radio frequencies, transmit power, and time slots. Information theory offers a powerful mathematical framework to understand how these transmission resources should be allocated so as to maximize the capacity at the physical layer, yielding valuable insights for the design of efficient schemes for, e.g., modulation, coding, and power control. Typically, however, information-theoretic models pertain to idealized scenarios: They do not account for random user behavior and dynamics at higher network layers; the practical application-specific performance requirements are largely ignored, and algorithmic implementation constraints are usually not considered. Designing systems while systematically addressing all of these aspects has posed major challenges in the last few decades. The vital need for wireless networks with significantly better performance has rejuvenated research activities toward tackling these challenges.