CALL FOR PAPERS
Journal of Communications (JCM, ISSN 1796-2021)
Special Issue on Wireless Communications for Emergency Communications and
Rural Wideband Services
The world has recently seen disasters of a magnitude not seen in many decades, causing loss of hundreds of
thousands of lives, destruction of millions of homes and businesses and the complete destruction of critical
infrastructures. When disaster strikes, access to reliable communications is crucial to the efforts of disaster relief
and recovery operations where quick response translates into lives saved, and minimizing adverse impacts on
the local economy. During emergencies - local, state, and national - the importance of communications systems,
including telecommunications, broadcast, cable, and satellite systems, becomes clear.
Even in fully developed nations, smaller communities and rural areas rarely have robust communications
infrastructures or widespread wireless access. In the sparsely populated southwestern United States for
example, homes and structures with landline telephones are few and far between; cellular and high speed
internet service is unprofitable and therefore unavailable; and even government agencies often can not afford
satellite communications. Radios traditionally used by first responders can be severely restricted by terrain
features such as hills. Even during relatively routine emergencies such as fires, hazardous material spills, and
traffic accidents, first responders often struggle or fail to effectively communicate over distances. Further,
communications among first responders to an emergency continue to be severely hampered by radio
interoperability issues. Interoperability, coverage, and flexibility of first-responder’s communication systems are
among the most critical issues evident from such events.
Recent advances in information technology and wireless telecommunications have dramatically changed the
modern business environment and daily human life. Wireless communications for public safety, emergency
communications and delivery of wideband services to rural communities are topics of primary social relevance
which are being increasingly investigated. Wireless telecommunications also play a special role in meeting data
communication needs due to the spread of the Internet, which has placed further demands for widely accessible
and reliable high-bandwidth communication systems to overcome the exiting digital divide, but often in direct
competition with bandwidth for emergency management.
In this special issue, we would like to invite authors to focus on new or innovative approaches, technologies, or
systems for public safety, emergency communications and delivery of wideband services to rural areas. The
relevant topics include, but not limited to:
Topics of interest include, but are NOT limited to:
- Private-commercial-government communication system interoperability
- Broadband Wireless Access for remote and rural areas
- Wideband Private Mobile Radio (PMR)
- Radio over IP
- Wireless communications in multidimensional complex urban environments
- Reliable and ubiquitous emergency services
- Disaster mitigation and emergency response
- Emergency Services and Disaster Recovery of Networks and Applications
- Communications system operation in harsh radio environments
- Integration of Terrestrial, Satellite and Navigation Technologies
- Satellite systems and HAPS for emergency communication
- Techniques for flexible spectrum usage
- Location-aware radio techniques
- Sensor networks, Mesh networks, Ad hoc networks in emergency situation
- Broadband Wireless Access and the digital divide
- Network reliability and survivability
- Support for multi-provider access networks
- Inter-working of 2G, 3G and 4G Wireless Networks
Submission Guidelines
Submitted papers must be original and not have been previously published or currently submitted for journal
publication elsewhere. Papers, which have appeared previously in proceedings of conferences, could be
submitted to this special issue if they are substantially revised or improved from their earlier versions. The full
paper should ideally not exceed 14 single-space pages of A4, including illustrations and tables. Submissions
must be directly sent via email to Guest Editors: Abdul.yarali@murraystate.edu, Michael.bowman@murraystate.
edu or Srahman@vt.edu. Please identify your submission in the email subject line “Submission - JCM Special
Issue”. Complete guidelines for prospective authors can be found on-line at http://www.academypublisher.
com/forauthors.html.
Each submitted paper will be reviewed by at least three Editorial reviewers. Criteria and evaluation for acceptance
of paper include:
- Significance to the journal’'s audience
- Relevance to this special issue
- Quality of the paper including originality, technical depth, significance of results, adequacy of priori works
referenced, overall organization, clarity and readability, satisfactory English writing, sufficient support for
assertions and conclusion, appropriate title, abstract adequately summarizes the paper, introduction
provides proper orientation, clear tables and figures. - Overall recommendation on the paper
- Optional confidential comments to the Editorial Committee
Important Dates
Guest Editors
