-------- Original Message -------- Subject: Submission Deadline Extended to January 15th: Special Issue Date: Tue, 14 Dec 2004 10:15:20 +0100 From: Antonio Iera iera@mailer.ing.unirc.it To: Ssc@cassius.ee.usyd.edu.au, Tccc@cs.columbia.edu, multicomm@comsoc.org CC: iera@ing.unirc.it, molinaro@deis.unical.it, kdlee@etri.re.kr, Salkintzis Apostolis-Y1026C salki@motorola.com

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The submission Deadline of the Special Issue of IEEE Wireless Communications Magazine on "The Synergy of Space and Terrestrial Communications in Next-generation Hybrid Wireless Systems" has been extended to JANUARY, 15th, 2005

------------------ SECOND CALL ------------------------------------------ In the last few years mobile radio communications have experienced great transformations and are still rapidly changing. The main “fuel” of this evolutionary process is, undoubtedly, represented by the strong user request for new conception multimedia applications (not only with a point-to-point nature, but also broadcast and even multicast) to be accessed in a “/ubiquitous/” fashion. An obvious solution to this challenging issue is represented by enhancing platforms based on the synergic inter-working of different technologies and algorithms, including the satellite ones. By this we mean that it is important to carry to its extremes the concept of “/hybrid/ /wireless platform”/ by including also satellite segments not only acting as mere /bent-pipes/, but acting as an additional /radio access segment/ to be overlapped to the terrestrial ones. Broadband Satellite systems for Personal Communication Systems (PCS) are the last generation of satellites, characterized by the possibility of providing the user with direct connections without an intermediate link to a gateway and usually able to support broadband traffic coming from a wide range of multimedia applications. These systems can be either GEO or LEO satellites, use very high frequency bands, such as the Ku, Ka, and W bands, and, in any case, are equipped with sophisticated on-board switching and signal processing functionality, and high-capacity inter-satellite links. The way these systems interact with the terrestrial (preferably based on the TCP/IP protocol) networks is manifold. Whichever the way is, the new generation of satellite constellations is going to become an integral part of the network. In the highlighted communication scenario it shall not be neglected that a valid prospective alternative (or a complement) to satellites is represented by stratospheric platforms, called High Altitude Platforms (HAPs). Several advantages derives from Satellite and Terrestrial system integration, but numerous as well are the issues which remain still open and need further investigations. In the USA, Europe, and Japan great efforts are being taken to develop prototypes of new conception satellite platforms, ready for future telecommunication scenarios. Many projects currently aim at contributing to the design and deployment of so-called “/global mobile broadband system/” (GMBS), a unique satellite/terrestrial infrastructure ensuring nomadic users access to multimedia services with a negotiated QoS. Notwithstanding the many researches conducted on the topic, it still seems that a comprehensive analysis of the impact on the offered services deriving from the presence of HAP/Satellite platforms in hybrid wireless communications systems is still lacking. In the guest editors’ opinion, a feasibility study on this argument is extremely important. Furthermore, many difficulties that Satellites/HAPs are still experiencing are more related to the lack of a clear understanding of their “killer” utilization in a next generation communications scenario than to technological limitations. Therefore, main objectives of the present Special Issue consist in: analyzing the main features that characterize the different satellite platforms currently available on the market; highlighting their intrinsic points of strength and limitations when they are integrated with terrestrial segments and thus called to handle multimedia traffic with different QoS constraints and requirements; describing how most of the emerging problems have been successfully faced by novel technological and protocol solutions; and making clearly emerge what is still under way of definition, what still needs further research efforts to come to a solution, and which is the frontier of the next few years research in the field of satellite and terrestrial networks integration. This will, hopefully, give the readers a complete vision of the state-of-the-art in such a strategic field as well as the instruments to understand the role of HAPs and/or satellites in the cited multimedia hybrid wireless scenarios, contribute to the understanding of their actual potentiality and limitations, highlight where there is still margin of research and development for the academic/industrial community, and contribute to the activities of deployment and/or to the design and implementation of effective terrestrial-satellite platforms. We solicit papers covering a variety of topics including, but not limited to: · New Technologies, Algorithms, and Protocols for Next Generation Communications via Satellite · HAP based systems and applications and their internetworking with terrestrial systems · Integrated positioning/communications platforms based on Satellite/HAP for future applications · Novel services in Hybrid Wireless Systems · Evolutionary Scenarios for Hybrid Wireless Systems · Challenges and solutions for QoS provisioning to next generation multimedia services in Hybrid Wireless Systems · MBMS (Multicast and Broadcast Multimedia Services) architectures and protocols in Hybrid Wireless Systems · Demonstrator and prototypes resulting from relevant projects and research activities · New conception terminals for Hybrid Wireless Systems · The role of new band (Ka, W, etc.) payloads in future internetworked scenarios · Interplanetary Satellite Missions · Standardization activities and project reports

All submissions should adhere to the style of IEEE Wireless Communications Magazine. Guidelines for prospective authors can be found on-line at _http://www.comsoc.org/~pci/_. Electronic submissions in Postscript or PDF format are strongly encouraged and should be sent to one of the Guest Editors at the addresses indicated below. If electronic submission is not possible, please contact the guest editors.

The present Issue and the Issue “Key Technologies and Applications of Present and Future Satellite Communications” are complementary. Therefore, they will be prepared in conjunction with each other. Guest Editors of both Issues will communicate during the whole paper handling process and papers might be exchanged between the two Issues according to the addressed topics. The present Issue and the Issue “Key Technologies and Applications of Present and Future Satellite Communications” are complementary. Therefore, they will be prepared in conjunction with each other. Guest Editors of both Issues will communicate during the whole paper handling process and papers might be exchanged between the two Issues according to the addressed topics.

*Antonio Iera *University “Mediterranea” of Reggio Calabria Faculty of Engineering, Dept. D.I.M.E.T. Via Graziella (Feo di Vito) 89100 Reggio Calabria ITALY Phone: +39-0965-875286 Fax: +39-0965-875220 E-mail: iera@ing.unirc.it *Ki-Dong Lee *Electronics & Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) Digital Broadcasting Research Division 161 Gajeong-Dong, Yuseong-Gu, Daejeon, 305-350 KOREA Phone: +82-42-860-5225 E-mail : kdlee@etri.re.kr , kidian@ieee.org *Antonella Molinaro *University of Calabria Dept. D.E.I.S. 87036 Arcavacata di Rende (CS) ITALY Phone: +39-0984-494703 Fax: +39-0984-494713 E-mail: molinaro@deis.unical.it *Apostolis Salkintzis *Motorola 32 Kifissias Ave. GR-15125 Maroussi, Athens GREECE Phone: +30-210-8172335 E-mail: salki@motorola.com