Special Issue on Reconfigurable Networks: Enhancing Performance and Sustainability in Access Networks and the Edge-to-Cloud Continuum Submission Date: 2025-07-10 The convergence of access, edge, and cloud networks demands advanced reconfigurability, making network programmability essential for adaptation and optimization. This Special Issue explores innovative approaches to programmable and reconfigurable networks, focusing on performance and sustainability. Key topics include AI-driven network management, seamless access-cloud integration, security challenges, and energy-efficient solutions. We welcome contributions ranging from theoretical advancements to real-world applications. By fostering discussions on programmability, automation, and sustainability, this Special Issue aims to advance the future of flexible and intelligent network architectures.

Guest editors:

Gianluca Davoli, PhD

University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

Email: gianluca.davoli@unibo.it

(Orchestration and Virtualization in the Edge-to-Cloud Continuum)

Fabio Busacca, PhD

University of Catania, Catania, Italy

Email: fabio.busacca@unict.it

(Intelligent Resource Allocation)

Corrado Puligheddu, PhD

Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy

Email: corrado.puligheddu@polito.it

(5G and Beyond Radio Access Networks, O-RAN, Edge Computing)

Hao Wang, PhD

Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey, USA

Email: hwang9@stevens.edu

(Programmable data planes, Network Function Virtualization, End-host Networking, Network protocol design)

Yusheng Ji, PhD

National Institute of Informatics, Tokyo, Japan

Email: kei@nii.ac.jp

(AI-assisted distributed control and resource management)

Special issue information:

In response to the evolving landscape of modern networks, particularly the increasing convergence of access, edge, and cloud/data-center networks, a growing need for network equipment to support advanced reconfigurability has emerged. To this end, programmable networks are crucial for achieving unprecedented levels of network adaptation and customization. Indeed, network programmability allows software solutions to modify and optimize network configuration across the entire device-edge-cloud continuum. An example of that is the O-RAN initiative, that well represents the momentum that this approach has been gaining in the industry. Network control algorithms, based on classic mathematical optimization approaches or innovative machine learning techniques, can operate on multiple time scales, even real-time, according to the time criticality of the decision, the granularity of the input data, the time complexity of the control algorithm, and the available compute resources. Such algorithms permit not only to offer the best performance and guarantees to demanding applications, but also to make networks aware of external domains relevant to network operation. However, while these solutions enable unprecedented degrees of freedom in the programmability of the network, they should also be designed to guarantee a minimum impact on the network consumption and carbon footprint of the network.

With all of this in mind, this special issue focuses on exploring and advancing the programmability of reconfigurable networks in terms of both performance and sustainability, emphasizing access, edge, and cloud/data-center networks. We aim to foster discussions and present innovative research addressing key challenges in network management, programmability, security, sustainability, and real-world applications. For network management and control, we encourage contributions exploring how distributed planes can efficiently manage programmable elements across access, edge, and cloud, with AI optimizing real-time decisions. In programmability, we seek new models to enable seamless integration between access and cloud networks. Security focuses on mitigating vulnerabilities in reconfigurable networks, while sustainability looks at optimizing energy consumption and adapting to external conditions. Finally, we also seek papers that explore compelling use cases, particularly in smart cities, IoT, and critical infrastructure, benefiting from enhanced programmability.

We invite contributions focusing on novel approaches to enhancing programmability, dynamic data plane adaptation, and performance optimization in access and cloud/data-center networks. Submissions that address the challenges of integrating sustainability and management within reconfigurable architectures, as well as those exploring use cases and applications benefiting from enhanced network flexibility, are highly encouraged.

Manuscript submission information:

The journal's submission platform (Editorial Manager®) will be available for receiving submissions to this Special Issue from February 10, 2025. Please refer to the Guide for Authors to prepare your manuscript, and select the article type of “VSI: Reconfigurable Networks” when submitting your manuscript online. Both the Guide for Authors and the submission portal could be found on the Journal Homepage: Computer Networks | Journal | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier.

Timeline:

Submission Open Date *10/02/2025

Final Manuscript Submission Deadline *10/07/2025

Editorial Acceptance Deadline *10/11/2025

Keywords:

Reconfigurable Networks, Network Programmability, AI-Driven Network Management, Energy-Efficient Networking, Edge-to-Cloud Continuum