Selected Areas of Wireless Communications and Networking
The technical track on Wireless Communications and Networking (WCN) of the ACM Symposium on Applied Computing (SAC 2026) will be held in Thessaloniki, Greece, March 23 - March 27, 2026.
Scope
Over the past decades, Wireless Communications and Networking (WCN) technologies have become the backbone of ubiquitous connectivity in both consumer and industrial domains. The transformative impact of these technologies ranging from traditional wireless sensor deployments to advanced 5G and emerging 6G architectures has laid the foundation for intelligent, connected ecosystems. As the scope of WCN continues to broaden, new paradigms such as Cell-free massive MIMO (Multiple-Input Multiple-Output) systems, Metaverse networking, and Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communications are pushing the boundaries of capacity, latency, and mobility. A key driver of this evolution is the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) into wireless infrastructures, enabling self-optimizing networks, adaptive routing, and intelligent edge decision-making. Furthermore, the convergence of communication and sensing through Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC) is redefining the functionality of wireless systems. A major addition to this year’s focus is the rising prominence of Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs) including Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites, High-Altitude Platforms (HAPs), and Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) based relays as critical enablers for seamless global connectivity. NTNs not only complement terrestrial infrastructure but are also central to future 6G visions, especially for remote, rural, and mobility-driven use cases. This track invites high-quality research contributions addressing current challenges, novel architectures, protocols, and practical deployments across the full spectrum of WCN and NTN technologies. This special track aims to bring together academia, industry, and professionals to foster knowledge exchange, highlight innovations, and chart future directions in wireless networking.
Topics of Interest
Major topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:
- Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs)
- Metaverse Networking
- Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTNs), including Satellite, HAPs, and UAV Communications
- Advances in 5G and Beyond (including 6G)
- Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications (V2V communications)
- Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs)
- Future Internet Architectures in Wireless Environments
- Machine to Machine Communications (M2M)
- Cell-free Wireless Networks
- Ubiquitous Networks
- Cognitive and Opportunistic Wireless Networks
- Network design, control, and performance
- Traffic Management and Congestion Control in Dense Wireless Networks
- Energy efficiency and power control
- Artificial Intelligence in Networking
- Integrated Sensing and Communication (ISAC)
- MAC, Routing and Transport Protocols
- Data-Centric Communications and Protocols
- Blockchain for Wireless Networking
- Edge and Fog Computing for Wireless Networks
Paper submission/publication
Authors are invited to submit original and unpublished papers of research and applications for this track. Full papers are limited to 8 pages with the option for up to 2 additional pages. The author name(s) and address(es) must not appear in the body of the paper, and self-reference should be in the third person. This is to facilitate double-blind review. Only the title should be shown at the first page without the author information. Papers must be formatted according to the ACM SAC template. Contributions must contain original unpublished work. Papers that have been concurrently submitted to other conferences or journals (double submissions) will be automatically rejected.Prospective papers should be submitted using the provided automated submission system for Regular Papers and SRC Papers.
Open Access Publication
Starting January 1, 2026, ACM will fully transition to Open Access. All ACM publications, including those from ACM-sponsored conferences, will be 100% Open Access. Authors will have two primary options for publishing Open Access articles with ACM: the ACM Open institutional model or by paying Article Processing Charges (APCs). With over 1,800 institutions already part of ACM Open, the majority of ACM-sponsored conference papers will not require APCs from authors or conferences (currently, around 70-75%).Authors from institutions not participating in ACM Open will need to pay an APC to publish their papers, unless they qualify for a financial or discretionary waiver. To find out whether an APC applies to your article, please consult the list of participating institutions in ACM Open and review the APC Waivers and Discounts Policy. Keep in mind that waivers are rare and are granted based on specific criteria set by ACM. Understanding that this change could present financial challenges, ACM has approved a temporary subsidy for 2026 to ease the transition and allow more time for institutions to join ACM Open.
The subsidy will offer:
- $250 APC for ACM/SIG members
- $350 for non-members
Important Note
Paper registration is mandatory to include papers and posters in the conference proceedings. An author or a proxy attending SAC MUST present the paper. This requirement applies to all accepted papers, posters, and invited SRC submissions for inclusion in the ACM digital library. In case of personal circumstances preventing physical attendance, online presentation is allowed, ensuring the paper's inclusion in the ACM digital library. Note that no registration refund will be issued to no-show authors.Important Dates
Submission of regular papers and SRC research abstracts: September 26, 2025 (EST) October 10, 2025 (EST)
Notification of paper and SRC acceptance/rejection: October 31, 2025
Camera-ready copies of accepted papers/SRC: December 05, 2025
Author registration due date: December 12, 2025
Track Chairs
School of Computer Science and Engineering,
Kyungpook National University, Daegu, Korea
Prof. Dongkyun Kim received the B.S. degree from Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South
Korea; and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea. He was a
Visiting Researcher with Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA, in 1999. He also
performed a post doctorate program with the Department of Computer Engineering, University of
California, Santa Cruz, CA, USA, in 2002. From 2015 to 2016, he was a visiting faculty at CSC
Research Group, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, USA. Currently, Prof. Kim is with the
School
of Computer Science and Engineering, Kyungpook National University. His current research interests
include connected cars, vehicular ad hoc networks, the Internet of Things (machine-to-
machine/device-to-device), Wi-Fi networks (including Wi-Fi Direct), wireless mesh networks,
wireless
sensor networks, and future Internet. Prof. Kim has been with the Organizing Committee or the
Technical Program Committee for many conferences of the IEEE and the Association for Computing
Machinery. He has been doing many editorial duties for several well-reputed international
journals.
A detailed list of research publications can be found
here
Department of Computer Science,
San Diego State University, San Diego, California, USA
Dr. Wei Wang is an Associate Professor of
Computer Science at San Diego State University
(SDSU). He was an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at South Dakota State University
from January 2010 to May 2014. He received his Ph.D. degree from
University of Nebraska - Lincoln, NE, USA, in
December 2009. He worked as a Software Engineer with Nokia Siemens Networks Ltd (former
Siemens Communications Ltd) in 2005. His research interests include wireless networks, wireless
multimedia communications, QoE-QoS issues, network economics and IoTs. He serves as the
publication co-chair of IEEE INFOCOM 2020, the area chair of IEEE ICME 2020-2019, the symposium
co-chair of IEEE GLOBECOM-NGNI 2019, the track-chair of ACM SAC 2019, the web co-chair of IEEE
INFOCOM 2018-16, the symposium co-chair of IEEE ICC-NGNI 2018, the symposium co-chair of ICNC-
MCC 2018, the program co-chair of ACM RACS 2017-14, workshop co-chair of ICST BodyNets 2013,
the chair of IEEE CIT-MMC track 2012, the vice-chair of IEEE ICCT-NGN track 2011, and the program
chair of the ICST-IWMMN 2010, a Guest Editor of several journals and special issues such as IEEE
ACCESS, Springer MONET, IJDSN, etc, a Technical Program Committee (TPC) member for many
international conferences such as IEEE INFOCOM, GLOBECOM, and ICC, the Co-Director of IEEE
MMTC Review Board 2020-2017, and the Co-Director of the IEEE MMTC Publicity Board 2016-2014.
He is a Senior Member of IEEE.
A detailed list of research publications can be found here
Prospective Publicity Co-Chairs:
Syed Hassan Ahmed, California State University, Fullerton, USA
Muhammad Azfar Yaqub, Free University of Bolzano, Italy.
Prospective Technical Program Committee :
- Juan-Carlos Cano, Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Spain.
- Sherali Zeadally, University of Kentucky, USA.
- Floriano De Rango, University of Calabira, Italy.
- Muhammad Toaha Raza Khan, Middle East Technical University, Cyprus.
- Malik Muhammad Saad, Kyungpook National University, Korea.
- Nafaa Jabeur, German University of Technology, Oman.
- Muhammad Ali Jamshed, University of Glasgow, UK.
- Gautam Srivastava, Brandon, Canada.
- Kun Hua, Lawrence Technical University, USA.
- Rutvij H. Jhaveri, Pandit Deendayal Energy University, India.
- Limei Peng, Kyungpook National University, Korea.
- Houbing Song, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, USA.
- Syed Mehdi Abbas Rizvi, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, Italy.
- Zeeshan Qamar, University of Oklahoma, USA.
