Aims and Scope

The International Journal of Communication Systems provides a forum for R&D, open to researchers from all types of institutions and organisations worldwide, aimed at the increasingly important area of communication technology. The Journal's emphasis is particularly on the issues impacting behaviour at the system, service and management levels. Published twelve times a year, it provides coverage of advances that have a significant potential to impact the immense technical and commercial opportunities in the communications sector. The International Journal of Communication Systems strives to select a balance of contributions that promotes technical innovation allied to practical relevance across the range of system types and issues.

The Journal addresses both public communication systems (Telecommunication, mobile, Internet, and Cable TV) and private systems (Intranets, enterprise networks, LANs, MANs, WANs). The following key areas and issues are regularly covered:

    Transmission/Switching/Distribution technologies (ATM, SDH, TCP/IP, routers, DSL, cable modems, VoD, VoIP, WDM, etc.)
    System control, network/service management
    Network and Internet protocols and standards
    Client-server, distributed and Web-based communication systems
    Broadband and multimedia systems and applications, with a focus on increased service variety and interactivity
    Trials of advanced systems and services; their implementation and evaluation
    Novel concepts and improvements in technique; their theoretical basis and performance analysis using measurement/testing, modelling and simulation
    Performance evaluation issues and methods.

The Journal has a prime remit to publish first-class original papers providing in-depth analysis of R&D work, and Special Issues are produced that comprise many papers focusing on a particular theme. A further crucial role for the Journal is to enable the reader to identify emerging principles and trends in the communications arena. Papers that will aid cross-fertilisation between disciplines are encouraged. Case studies that describe practical applications of communication technologies are welcomed. Tutorial and review articles will also be featured on a regular basis.

Review Policy: the review policy of the International Journal of Communication Systems is based on the following guidelines:

    Manuscripts are submitted with the understanding that the same work has not been published or is not under consideration elsewhere
    All papers will be subject to a well-established fair and unbiased peer review process by experts in the field
    Authors should obtain company and government clearances prior to submission of manuscripts
    Editors reserve the right to reject papers if they do not meet the Aims and Scope of the Journal, if they are excessively long, or if they are not adequately presented
    The review process will always ensure the anonymity of the referees

Readership

Communications engineers · technical managers · researchers in telecommunications, computer networks and television engineering

Keywords

communications, telecommunications, computer communications, communications networks and systems, computer and telecommunications networks and systems, high speed networks, local area computer networks, metropolitan area computer networks, LAN/MAN, gigabit networks, performance eveluation of computer communication systems and networks, network protocols and architectures, journal, online journal, Wiley Online Library

Special Issue on UAV Assisted Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces for Next Generation V2X Communications
Submission Date: 2026-10-31

Intelligent transportation systems are evolving toward fully networked and AI supported mobility infrastructures. Safe and efficient operation depends on continuous, low latency, and highly reliable V2X communications. However, current ITS deployments rely mainly on fixed roadside units and conventional cellular networks. These infrastructures often suffer from non-line-of-sight conditions, dynamic blockages, and persistent coverage gaps across highways, urban intersections, rural areas, and other complex environments. Intelligent Reflecting Surfaces offer a promising approach to reconfiguring wireless propagation with high energy efficiency and minimal spectrum overhead. Conventional IRS installations are static and therefore unable to respond to rapidly changing traffic conditions or temporary communication demands.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) platforms provide valuable complementary capabilities through three dimensional mobility and rapid on-demand deployment. When UAVs operate as cooperative controllers or mobile IRS carriers, they enable V2X architectures that can dynamically adjust to real world vehicular mobility. Despite this potential, there remain unresolved challenges including precise channel alignment under mobility, endurance limitations, multi UAV coordination, and regulatory constraints.

This Special Issue seeks high quality contributions that advance UAV assisted IRS for ITS. Topics of interest include theoretical foundations, algorithmic solutions, system level integration, deployment feasibility, and emerging applications that support reliable, resilient, and scalable V2X communications.

Integrating UAVs with IRS for vehicular networks introduces significant technical and operational complexity. Highly dynamic vehicular and aerial mobility leads to rapidly varying channels. These conditions require accurate and low latency channel estimation as well as fast IRS reconfiguration. Joint optimization of UAV trajectories, IRS phase control, beamforming, spectrum scheduling, and V2X resource allocation creates a tightly coupled and high dimensional problem. Static IRS installations cannot adequately handle temporary blockages, dynamic congestion patterns, or incident driven coverage requirements. Hardware constraints such as discrete phase quantization, non ideal reflection efficiency, and sensitivity to weather further limit performance. UAV platforms face their own restrictions including payload limits, battery endurance, stability in adverse environmental conditions, and compliance with aviation regulations. All challenges must be addressed while meeting the strict reliability and latency requirements of safety critical ITS applications.

This Special Issue aims to advance UAV-assisted IRS for V2X communications by developing integrated architectures that improve connectivity in diverse traffic environments. It encourages novel methods for joint UAV trajectory planning, IRS optimization, and resource allocation under mobility and reliability constraints, leveraging AI-driven solutions such as reinforcement learning and predictive adaptation. Contributions exploring high-frequency mmWave/THz links, practical deployment strategies, and prototypes are also welcome, with the ultimate goal of establishing UAV assisted IRS as a resilient, scalable, and cost-effective enabler for next-generation ITS.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

    UAV-assisted IRS architectures for highways, urban intersections, and rural/agricultural roads
    Joint optimization of UAV trajectories, IRS phase configurations, and V2X communication resources
    Channel estimation, prediction, and beamforming for highly mobile UAV–IRS vehicular networks
    IRS-enhanced mmWave/THz V2X links under high mobility and NLoS conditions
    Design, control, energy management, and mission planning of UAV-mounted IRS platforms
    AI-driven adaptation including reinforcement learning, meta-learning, and predictive control for dynamic UAV–IRS systems
    Cooperative perception, edge intelligence, and traffic safety applications enabled by UAV-assisted IRS
    Physical-layer security and privacy for V2X communications using UAV and IRS platforms
    Multi-UAV coordinated IRS networks for incident response, congestion mitigation, and temporary coverage restoration
    Deployment strategies, regulatory considerations, feasibility studies, and field experiments for large-scale ITS applications

Guest Editors:

Prof. Hsin-Hung Cho
National Ilan University
Taiwan (Province of China)

Prof. Abdellah Chehri
Royal Military College of Canada
Canada

Shiping Wen
University of Technology Sydney
Australia

Dr. Valerio Bellandi
CDepartment of Computer Science
University of Milan
Italy

Keywords: beamforming; cellular network; intelligent transportation system

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/page/journal/10991131/call-for-papers/si-2026-000412