SBRC 2024 special issue—cross-layer advances for resilient and intelligent communication systems

This special issue delves into cross-layer innovations that bolster the resilience, efficiency, and intelligence of communication systems. It covers a wide range of topics, from physical and optical-layer challenges to data-link and network layers, and even upper-layer solutions for emerging paradigms. The issue begins with advancements in physical and optical-layer infrastructures, including algorithms for core and spectrum assignment in elastic optical networks and methods to reduce blocking due to crosstalk. It then explores efficient signal processing and routing strategies at the data-link and network layers, such as RSSI filtering mechanisms for handoff algorithms and change-point detection in network time series. The upper layers are addressed through solutions for data-intensive science, quantum entanglement networks, and secure vehicular over-the-air updates. Additionally, the issue examines resource management in 5G/6G networks, the quality of WebRTC-based videoconferencing, and dynamic data replica balancing in HDFS. The final group of papers focuses on Federated Learning in networking contexts, addressing robustness, communication overhead, and power allocation. Together, these contributions illustrate how advances across multiple layers of the networking stack address the complexity of modern communication systems, highlighting the importance of cross-disciplinary approaches.