Caching for Communication Systems and Networks

Initial Paper Submission: December 1, 2017
Acceptance notification: March 7, 2018
Final manuscript submission: April 1, 2018
Publication date: Second Quarter 2018
CALL FOR PAPERS
IEEE JSAC Special Issue on Caching for Communication Systems and Networks

The ever-increasing volume of data traffic and the proliferation of services with stringent performance requirements constantly outpace the capacity upgrades in wired and wireless networks, and challenge their performance and their economic viability. At the same time, recent developments, such as the advent of SDN and NFV technologies, the deployment of multi-tier wireless systems, and the novel interplay of caching with physical layer techniques can create novel opportunities for reducing this demand – supply gap.

In this new era, it is imperative to systematically revisit the role of caching for a variety of reasons: (a) storage becomes an increasingly low-cost resource, in stark contrast with other resources (e.g., spectrum), and can be embedded in equipment of various form factors in large amounts; (b) novel network architectures emerge such as 5G+ systems and hybrid wired-wireless designs; (c) new business models appear with Over-The-Top service providers deploying their own infrastructure or cooperating with network operators; (d) the needs of users are rapidly changing, consuming huge amounts of content on their mobile devices and generating their own content; (e) social networking platforms are heavily affecting network operation creating additional value but also congestion.

Storage and caching can play a fundamental role in this emerging era in communication systems and networks, by increasing the performance of the offered services, reducing operating and capital expenditures, and enabling innovative and game-changing business models. This special issue therefore invites submissions of high-quality original technical and survey papers exploring the role of caching in communication systems and networks, including the following non-exhaustive list of topics:

Information-theoretic caching analysis

Fundamental limits of caching
Coded caching design with practical constraints
Receiver and source memory-enhanced communications
Scaling laws of cache networks

Caching in next generation wireless systems

HetNet and device-to-device caching
Edge caching, cooperation and femtocaching
Joint caching with scheduling, routing and utility maximization
Secure caching, privacy preservation

Content caching and delivery

Design of elastic Content Delivery Networks (CDNs)
Algorithms for storage installation and content placement
Novel aspects of video caching and streaming
Caching economics, collaboration of operators and content providers, OpEx and CapEx analysis, and memory-bandwidth tradeoffs
Caching models for Information Centric Networking

Data analytics for caching

Analysis of request data, time-varying content popularity models
Popularity estimation and prediction of viral content
Machine learning and optimization for popularity incentives
Interplay of social networks and caching algorithms