Join the Coming 5G Revolution: Special Issue of SPM, Nov. 2014

Even if the fourth-generation system (4G) is still new for customers, the fifth-generation (5G) mobile technology is already waiting for us, promising higher data transfer rates. As opposed to 4G standards, no definition for 5G is currently available which gives opportunities for us especially in the signal processing area. It is certain that signal processing will play an important role in the features that define 5G.
The special issue of the IEEE Signal Processing Magazine (SPM) in November provides an overview of recent advances in signal processing for communication with an emphasis on signal processing techniques that will be relevant for 5G cellular systems. It covers a wide range of topics including modulation, beamforming, cross-layer optimization based on different performance metrics, location-aware communication, cloud computing, and cloud radio access networks. The articles provide a diverse perspective on the three potential challenges in 5G cellular systems such as the optimization of 5G systems, cloud computing and cloud radio access networks, and some traditional physical-layer signal processing techniques relevant to 5G cellular systems
The article by Björnson et al. considers the problem of operating a 5G system with conflicting performance metrics and give an example application to massive multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) systems. Cavalcante et al. consider optimizations related to energy efficiency and use traffic patterns and interference calculus to suggest algorithms for energy efficiency.
The article by Wübben et al. reviews the benefits that cloud computing can offer in 5G cellular networks with the detailed description on signal processing issues related to the cloud implementation of the signal processing chain. In the article by Barbarossa et al., the authors approach cloud computing by a mathematical formulation of a computation offloading problem. Baligh et al. look at cloud computing from the perspective of interference management and network provisioning and propose a cross-layer optimization framework for joint user admission, user base station association, power control, user grouping, transceiver design as well as routing and flow control. Park et al. surveys work on fronthaul compression, especially multiterminal compression and structured coding, leveraging insights derived from network information theory.
The article by Banelli et al. considers the topic of modulation, speculating that 5G may employ another modulation strategy besides orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing. Razavizadeh et al. examine a multiple antenna technique known as three-dimensional beamforming, where antenna elements in both horizontal and vertical directions are used. The final article by Di Taranto et al. considers how 5G networks might benefit from precise location information at different layers of the protocol stack.
Since cellular communication systems are continuing to incorporate advanced signal processing techniques just as it did for electronic systems in radar areas from 1930s to 1970s, 5G systems are good opportunities as experiment stations for researchers in signal processing. Do not wait or you will just admire the view in the way of revolution.
[1] Robert W. Heath, Jr., Geert Leus, Tony Q.S. Quek, Shilpa Talwar, Peiying Zhou. Signal Processing for the 5G Revolution. IEEE Signal Processing, 2014, Nov., pp. 12-13
[2] http://everything-pr.com/the-5g-revolution-begins/243440/