The IEEE Wireless Communications and Networking Conference (WCNC) is a top-ranked, flagship conference of the IEEE Communications Society, bringing together researchers from academia, industry, and government. IEEE WCNC 2026 will be hosted in the warm and wonderful city of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and will be conducted in person, allowing attendees to fully benefit from the conference atmosphere and experience.

Prospective authors are invited to submit their works in the form of research papers describing significant and innovative contributions to the field of wireless communications and networking, in accordance with the four technical tracks listed below. Accepted and presented papers will be published in the IEEE WCNC 2026 Conference Proceedings and submitted to IEEE Xplore.

Proposals for half- or full-day tutorials and workshops are also invited in all communication and networking topics.

Technical Tracks

Track 1: Physical Layer and Communication Theory
Topics

Antennas and RF
Channel Modeling and Estimation
Coding Theory and Techniques
Energy Harvesting and Low Energy Communication
Feedback and Two-Way Communication
Free Space Optical Communication
Holographic Surfaces and Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces
Information Theory Aspects of Wireless Communications
Integrated Sensing and Communications
Iterative Techniques, Detection, and Decoding
Low Resolution Communication
Millimeter-Wave and Terahertz
Near-Field communication and sensing
MIMO, d Massive MIMO, and cell-free massive MIMO
Physical Layer Security
Propagation and Interference Modeling
Relaying and Self-Backhauling
Semantic Communications
Short Packet and Finite Block Length Communications
Waveforms and Modulation
Wireless Power and Information Transfer

Track 2: Medium Access Control and Networking
Topics

Age and Value of Information for Networks
Backscatter Communications
Cognitive Radio and Networking
Cooperative Communications and Networking
Edge Computing, Edge Intelligence and Fog Networks
Energy-Efficient and Green Networking
Load Balancing and Cell/Band Association
IoT networks and protocols
Low Power Wireless Networks
Multiple Access and Contention
Multihop Networks
Emerging Medium Access Schemes in the 5G and Beyond
Network Economics
Network Slicing
ORAN programmability of MAC and network functions
RAN Data Collection and Storage Enhancement
Resource allocation for wireless communications and networks
Resource Management
Resource Orchestration for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Systems
Routing and Congestion Control
Scheduling and Opportunistic Communications
SDN/NFV
Spectrum Sensing, Access, and Sharing
Unlicensed Spectrum and Licensed/Unlicensed Inter-Networking
URLLC, Time Sensitive, and Deterministic Networking
Wireless Network Security and Privacy

Track 3: Machine Learning and Optimization for Wireless Systems
Topics

Bayesian Optimization for Wireless Communications
Communication-inspired Machine Learning
Convex and Non-Convex Optimization for Wireless Communications
Data-driven Network Modelling and Optimization
Datasets for Wireless Systems and Channels
Deep Learning for Wireless Communications
Deep Unfolding for Wireless Communications and Networks
Distributed Learning and Federated Learning for Wireless Communications
Distributed Optimization & Resource Allocation for Wireless Communications
End-to-end Machine Learning over Wireless Channels
Game-Theoretic Approaches to Wireless Communications
Implementation of Machine Learning Algorithms in Wireless Networks
Large language models and generative AI for wireless systems
Machine Learning Methods for Wireless Localization
Networking Architectures for Artificial Intelligence
Online Learning for Wireless Networks
Performance Analysis of Machine Learning Techniques for Wireless Communications
Reinforcement Learning for Wireless Communications
Scalability of ML for Wireless Communications
Semantic and Goal-Oriented Communications
Transfer Learning for Wireless Communications and Networks
Unsupervised and Generative Models

Track 4: Emerging Technologies, Network Architectures, and Applications
Topics

5G NR and 6G Standardization
802.11 and Next-Generation Wi-Fi
AI-RAN
Blockchain and Cryptography
Connected Vehicles
Digital Twin networks
E-health and Mobile Health
Experiments, Prototypes, and Testbeds
Fluid Antenna Communications
Full-Duplex Communication Networks
Innovative Implanted and Wearable Devices
Intelligent Beamforming Relays
IoT and Machine Type Communications
Joint Radar and Communications
Low-altitude communications and networks
Molecular and Nano Communications
Networking support for virtual and augmented reality
O-RAN
Quantum Communications
Satellite and Deep Space Communications
Sensing and Localization
Software Defined Radio and Networks
Surface Wave Communications
UAVs and Non-Terrestrial Networks
Visible Light and Optical Communication