Purpose and Scope

The IEEE IoT Journal (IoT-J), launched in 2014 (“Genesis of the IoT-J“), publishes papers on the latest advances, as well as review articles, on the various aspects of IoT. Topics include IoT system architecture, IoT enabling technologies, IoT communication and networking protocols, IoT services and applications, and the social implications of IoT. Examples are IoT demands, impacts, and implications on sensors technologies, big data management, and future internet design for various IoT use cases, such as smart cities, smart environments, smart homes, etc. The fields of interest include:

    IoT architectures such as things-centric, data-centric, service-centric architecture, CPS and SCADA platforms, future Internet design for IoT, cloud-based IoT, and system security and manageability.
    IoT enabling technologies such as sensors, radio frequency identification, low power and energy harvesting, sensor networks, machine-type communication, resource-constrained networks, real-time systems, IoT data analytics, in situ processing, and embedded software.
    IoT services, applications, standards, and test-beds such as streaming data management and mining platforms, service middleware, open service platform, semantic service management, security and privacy-preserving protocols, design examples of smart services and applications, and IoT application support.

Editor-in-Chief

Nei Kato, Tohoku University, Japan (Email: eic-iotj.is@grp.tohoku.ac.jp)

Special Issue on Intent-based Networking for AI powered IoT Communications
Submission Date: 2025-07-15

In recent years, the demand for wireless communication has witnessed a tremendous growth which
has shifted the focus of research fraternities towards big data analytics (BDA). This technological
trend has put significant pressure on data center providers to create the next-generation wireless
communication infrastructures, which can provide more flexible services regarding end-to-end
latency and reliability. In this direction, Intent-based Networking (IBN) has been evolving as a
promising solution where a specialized software seamlessly plans, designs and implements the
changes in the network. Numerous high-computing networking paradigms like Software Defined
Networks and Network Function Virtualization have already gained much attention in the recent years,
but their device-to-device management strategy often falls short while dealing with the advanced
wireless communication technologies like 5G. Further, investigating new software interfaces between
ML and the IoT is crucial for enhancing the functionality and efficiency of interconnected devices.
The investigation of these interfaces not only enhances the operational efficiency of IoT devices but
will also contributes to creating more intelligent, interconnected, and energy-efficient ecosystems.
Thus, the objective of this special issue focuses on exploring the recent advances in wireless
communication networks while addressing the practical challenges and limitations associated with
current state-of-the-art architectures. This special issue aims to bring together leading researchers and
developers to present their experimental, conceptual, and theoretical contributions for amalgamating
IBN for AI powered IoT communications. Particular emphasis is placed on novel solutions which are
not just the evolution of 5G but also act as key drivers for the next generation communication
networks.

Suitable topics include, but are not limited to following areas:
• New framework, algorithms, and protocol designs for IBN-based big data communications
• Security, privacy and fault detection
• Emerging technologies on AI and Machine Learning (ML) for future IoT communications
• IBN in mobile data offloading
• IBN in emerging networks like flying ad-hoc networks, vehicular networks, smart grids, etc.
• Emerging IoT and cloud applications
• Mission-critical applications like smart grid, industry automation, health-care, etc.
• IBN inspired MAC and routing protocols
• Big data analytics frameworks
• Deep learning and federated learning for network control and communications
• AI and ML algorithms for network management
• Software interfaces for integrating AI/ML with IoT
• Protocol design and optimization
• Energy-efficient solutions and their integration to network architectures
• Results from experiments, testbeds, and simulations
• Other concepts and technologies

Important Dates
Submission Deadline: July 15, 2025
First Review Due: September 15, 2025
Revision Due: November 15, 2025
Sec. Reviews Due/Notification: December 15, 2025
Final Manuscript Due: January 15, 2026
Publication Date: March 2026

Submission Guidelines
All original manuscripts or revisions to the IEEE IoT Journal must be submitted electronically
through IEEE INTERNET OF THINGS JOURNAL AUTHOR PORTAL SUBMISSION SITE.
When the authors reach the “Article Type” step in the submission process, they should select “Special
Issue on Intent-based Networking for AI powered IoT Communications”. Solicited original
submissions must not be currently under consideration for publication in other venues. Author
guidelines and submission information can be found at https://ieee-iotj.org/guidelines-for-authors/.

Guest Editors
-Sahil Garg, École de Technologie Supérieure (ÉTS), Montreal, Canada (Email: sahil.garg@ieee.org)
-Ranga Rao Venkatesha Prasad, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands (Email: r.r.venkateshaprasad@tudelft.nl)
-Fabrizio Granelli, University of Trento, Italy (Email: fabrizio.granelli@unitn.it)
-Shui Yu, University of Technology, Sydney (Email: shui.yu@uts.edu.au)