The growing network density and unprecedented increase in network traffic, caused by the massively expanding number of connected devices and online services, require intelligent network operations. Machine Learning (ML) has been applied in this regard in different types of networks and networking technologies to meet the requirements of future communicating devices and services. In this article, we provide a detailed account of current research on the application of ML in communication networks and shed light on future research challenges. Research on the application of ML in communication networks is described in: i) the three layers, i.e., physical, access, and network layers; and ii) novel computing and networking concepts such as Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC), Software Defined Networking (SDN), Network Functions Virtualization (NFV), and a brief overview of ML-based network security. Important future research challenges are identified and presented to help stir further research in key areas in this direction.

Edge artificial intelligence (AI) is an innovative computing paradigm that aims to shift the training and inference of machine learning models to the edge of the network. This paradigm offers the opportunity to significantly impact our everyday lives with new services such as autonomous driving and ubiquitous personalized health care. Nevertheless, bringing intelligence to the edge involves several major challenges, which include the need to constrain model architecture designs, the secure distribution and execution of the trained models, and the substantial network load required to distribute the models and data collected for training. In this article, we highlight key aspects in the development of edge AI in the past and connect them to current challenges. This article aims to identify research opportunities for edge AI, relevant to bring together the research in the fields of artificial intelligence and edge computing.

Technology solutions must effectively balance economic growth, social equity, and environmental integrity to achieve a sustainable society. Notably, although the Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm constitutes a key sustainability enabler, critical issues such as the increasing maintenance operations, energy consumption, and manufacturing/disposal of IoT devices have long-term negative economic, societal, and environmental impacts and must be efficiently addressed. This calls for self-sustainable IoT ecosystems requiring minimal external resources and intervention, effectively utilizing renewable energy sources, and recycling materials whenever possible, thus encompassing energy sustainability. In this work, we focus on energy-sustainable IoT during the operation phase, although our discussions sometimes extend to other sustainability aspects and IoT lifecycle phases. Specifically, we provide a fresh look at energy-sustainable IoT and identify energy provision, transfer, and energy efficiency as the three main energy-related processes whose harmonious coexistence pushes toward realizing self-sustainable IoT systems. Their main related technologies, recent advances, challenges, and research directions are also discussed. Moreover, we overview relevant performance metrics to assess the energy-sustainability potential of a certain technique, technology, device, or network, together with target values for the next generation of wireless systems, and discuss protocol, integration, and implementation issues. Overall, this paper offers insights that are valuable for advancing sustainability goals for present and future generations.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) equipped with air quality sensors offer a powerful solution for increasing the spatial and temporal resolution of air quality data, searching and detecting emission sources, and monitoring emissions from fixed and mobile sources. Despite the numerous advantages of using UAVs, their use, however, presents several challenges that limit their broader adoption. For example, UAVs require efficient algorithms and components to minimize power consumption, the overall payload used on UAVs needs to be small to ensure optimal portability which poses limitations on the sensors that can be integrated with UAVs, and there is a need for specialized algorithms, e.g., for identifying and locating air pollution sources. Currently, most solutions for UAV-based air quality monitoring focus on specific challenges or demonstrating the potential of using UAVs, and there is a lack of comprehensive overview of the research field and its open challenges. In this paper, we contribute a systematic review of UAV-based air quality monitoring, highlighting and analyzing technical solutions and challenges, and identifying open challenges with the aim of providing a research roadmap for the path forward.