Research Advances in Network Technologies

In the current digital era, information is an important asset for our daily lives as well as for small- and large-scale businesses. The network technologies are the main enablers that connect the computing devices and resources together to collect, process, and share vital information locally as well as globally. The network technologies provide efficient, flexible, and seamless communication while maximizing productivity and resources for our day-to-day lives and business operations. For all its importance, this domain has evolved considerably in the last few decades, from the traditional wired networks to Bluetooth, infrared waves, micro-waves, radio-waves, and satellite networks. Nowadays, network technologies are not only restricted to computer laboratories, offices, or homes; many other diverse areas have been witnessed where network technologies are being used based on the applications and needs, such as vehicular ad hoc networks, underwater networks, and the Internet of Things. Along with the hardware-based and physical network technologies, a lot of research has been carried out by researchers from academia and industry to develop emerging software-based network technologies, such as network software architectures, middleware, and protocol stacks. The software-based network technologies become the main driving force behind the paradigm shift in this domain and have invented many new network technologies such as grid computing, cloud computing, fog computing, edge computing, software-defined networks, and content-centric networks. On the other hand, a lot of efforts have been made in cellular network technologies to improve the user experience, and as a consequence, emerging cellular network technologies like long-term evolution (LTE), Voice over Long-Term Evolution (VoLTE), and 5G have been invented. Due to its demand and importance in present and future scenarios, numerous efforts have been made in the networking domain by the researchers, a lot of work is still ongoing, and many more possibilities have yet to be explored. Therefore, there is a need to keep track of advancements related to network technologies and further investigate several ongoing research challenges for the ease of users. With this goal in mind, Research Advances in Network Technologies presents the most recent and notable research on network technologies.