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Information theory has been a mainstay of wireless communications ever since these became digital in nature, directly or indirectly influencing most of the constituent technologies. Not only has information theory provided fundamental bounds that enable gauging the performance of specific techniques, but it has yielded insights on transmitter/receiver structures and the air interface at large, revealed essential tradeoffs, and delineated regimes where operating conditions and channel mechanisms are fundamentally different.

The culmination of several decades of progress in wireless connectivity is today’s mobile Internet, underpinned by 4G and 5G cellular networks in conjunction with Wi-Fi, and with the transition to 6G networks already on the horizon—standardization is to begin in earnest in the second half of 2025. At this junction, with wireless no longer a young and emerging discipline, one may wonder whether there is still a role for information theory to play, moving forward. In the age of artificial intelligence (AI), can information theory continue to be an engine for the advancement of wireless networks, including the evolution of 6G over the next decade? Can information theory, possibly hand in hand with AI, serve as a foundation for subsequent generations and for other classes of wireless systems, say those involving satellites, drones, self-driving vehicles, robots, or AI agents?

The impetus for this special issue is the conviction that the answer to the above questions is decidedly affirmative. We invite original submissions at the intersection of information theory and wireless communications, on topics that include, but are not limited to:

•ÌýÌý ÌýMultiantenna communication. Optimum signaling, capacity, energy efficiency, minimum energy per bit, impact of low-resolution quantization and implementation constraints.
•ÌýÌý ÌýCommunication with antenna or front-end constraints/impairments. Communication with models for power consumption, thermal overheads, or hardware complexity.Ìý
•ÌýÌý ÌýSensing, localization, and joint sensing and communications.
•ÌýÌý ÌýMassive random access.
•ÌýÌý ÌýAdvanced optimization techniques for communication networks.
•ÌýÌý ÌýIntelligent-surface-assisted wireless communication.
•ÌýÌý ÌýNon-terrestrial networks. Massive access, coverage, capacity, spectrum sensing, spectrum sharing.Ìý
•ÌýÌý ÌýExplainable AI radio access. Benchmarking against theoretical bounds and optimal solutions.
•ÌýÌý ÌýDistributed and cooperative systems. Fundamental performance of machine-type communication, sensor networks, or vehicular networks.
•ÌýÌý ÌýTask-oriented communications.

Guest Editors

Jinfeng Du, Nokia Bell Labs, USA
Jamie Evans, The University of Melbourne, Australia
Angel Lozano (Lead), UPF Barcelona
Vasanthan Raghavan, Qualcomm, USA
Özlem Tuğfe Demir, TOBB University of Economics and Technology, Turkey
Wei Yu, University of Toronto, Canada
Angela Y. Zhang, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China

Senior Editor

Jeffrey Andrews, University of Texas at Austin

Important Dates

Manuscript submission deadline: Continuous submission until September 15th, 2025
First Recommendation: December 31st, 2025
Revised Manuscript Due: January 31st, 2026
Final Decision: February 28th, 2026
Final Manuscripts to Publisher: March 15th, 2026
Publication Date: Each accepted manuscript will be published on ½­ÄÏÌåÓý Xplore after finishing its peer-review with a final deadline for publishing the complete special issue by May 2026

Submission Guidelines: The papers will be peer-reviewed according to standard IT Society peer review procedures. The reviewers will be selected from the pool of established researchers working in the areas covered by the submitted papers. Prospective authors should prepare their papers following regular submission guidelines of the ½­ÄÏÌåÓý Journal on Selected Areas in Information Theory (see /jsait/author-information).

Manuscript Submission Website: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jsait-ieee
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