Deadline Date: 31 December 2026
The proliferation of massive Internet of Things (IoT) devices and emerging beyond-5G/6G services demands scalable connectivity, ultra-reliability, and energy-efficient communication. Cooperative transmission technologies, including active relays, passive reflecting structures, and distributed aerial platforms, are becoming fundamental enablers for extending coverage, improving spectral efficiency, and supporting intelligent wireless environments.
This Special Issue (SI) aims to present recent advances in cooperative communication technologies for IoT and next-generation wireless networks. It covers both active and passive cooperation mechanisms, intelligent propagation control, and distributed networking architectures. Contributions addressing theoretical modeling, signal processing, protocol design, optimization, machine learning integration, and experimental validation are encouraged. The issue welcomes terrestrial and non-terrestrial scenarios focusing on performance enhancement, energy sustainability, security, and scalability in dense heterogeneous deployments. The objective is to bridge theory and practice toward ubiquitous 6G connectivity.
The following themes illustrate representative research directions and application domains aligned with the above objectives, while the Special Issue remains open to other innovative cooperation-based wireless technologies.
Cooperative and multi-hop relay communications (AF/DF, full-duplex, cell-free, massive, distributed MIMO)
Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS), metasurfaces, and smart radio environments
Ambient backscatter and symbiotic radio communications (passive cooperation)
Aerial and non-terrestrial cooperative networks: UAV, HAPS, and satellite-assisted systems
Energy harvesting, SWIPT, and green cooperative networking
Advanced multiple access schemes with cooperation (NOMA, RSMA, grant-free massive access)
Physical-layer security and covert communications in cooperative networks
AI/ML-driven resource allocation and channel estimation
Integrated sensing-radar-communication-computing and edge intelligence
Performance enhancement of LPWAN/IoT technologies (LoRa, NB-IoT, massive machine-type communications)
Experimental platforms, testbeds, and practical deployments
Millimeter-Wave (mmWave) and THz relaying
V2X and Industrial IoT (IIoT)
Semantic and goal-oriented relaying, intelligent relaying
Editorial board
