Call for Papers


IEEE Communications Magazine

Feature Topic on

Network Centric Military Communications

The design and fielding of military communications systems capable of enabling Network Centric Operations remains one of the greatest challenges facing military institutions today. The challenges are particularly acute in the area of tactical wireless communications, which are typically characterized by user mobility and unpredictable transmission channels. Together with demanding security requirements and the need for interoperability among disparate systems, including legacy systems and those of allies, these characteristics make it difficult to leverage commercial wireless technology to meet the needs and expectations of military users. Some of these difficulties can be traced back to a lack of fundamental theoretical underpinnings for communications networks, a problem that is widely recognized today and beginning to receive significant attention in academia and industry alike. While network theoretic frameworks for wireless systems remain elusive, there is a great deal of work aimed at improving the design of wireless systems, some of which include the adoption of new design paradigms. Cross layer design remains a popular approach to minimizing inefficiencies associated with strictly layered design paradigms in highly dynamic wireless environments. Researchers are also focusing on the idea of exploiting the inherent broadcast properties of wireless networks through the development of cooperative diversity protocols, though practical applicability in highly mobile environments remains a question. Network coding is an example of another promising, and increasingly popular, approach aimed at improving the throughput of multi-hop wireless networks. Other areas of research, including network security, mobile routing, dynamic resource allocation, management and media access control, continue to play an important role in the struggle to improve the feasibility of truly network centric operations.

This Feature Topic will bring together the most recent advances in communications and networking technologies applicable to the area of network centric military communications. Papers are solicited that present research, development, experimentation, test and measurement, and practical deployment activities.

Suggested areas include (but are not restricted to) the following subject categories:

Submission
Articles should be tutorial in nature and be of direct interest to those engineering military communication systems. They should be written in a style comprehensible to readers outside the specialty of the article. Mathematical equations should not be used (In justified cases up to three simple equations could be allowed, provided you have the consent of the Guest Editor. The inclusion of more than three equations requires permission from the Editor-in-Chief). Articles should not exceed 4500 words. Figures and tables should be limited to a combined total of six. Complete guidelines for prospective authors can be found at: http://www.comsoc.org/pubs/commag/sub_guidelines.html. Please send PDF (preferred) or MSWORD formatted papers by April 1, 2008 to Manuscript Central (http://commag-ieee.manuscriptcentral.com), resister or log in, and go to the Author Center. Follow the instructions there. Select the topic "November 2008/Network Centric Military Communications."

Schedule for Submissions
Submission Deadline: May 1, 2008
Notification of Acceptance: July 1, 2008
Final Manuscript Due: September 1, 2008
Publication Date: November 2008

Guest Editors
Torleiv Maseng
Forsvarets Forskningsinstitutt
Post Box 25
2027 Kjeller, Norway
Phone: +47 63807204
Email: torleiv.maseng@ffi.no

Randall J. Landry
The MITRE Corporation
202 Burlington Rd
Bedford, MA 01730, USA
Phone: +1 781-271-8514
Email:rlandry@mitre.org