IEEE LANMAN has an established tradition as a forum for presenting and discussing the latest technical advances in local and metropolitan area networking. Cutting-edge papers spanning both theory and experimentation are solicited in all areas of networking. In keeping with the heritage of the symposium, there will be a central theme, and in 2026, the theme is “Integrated Networking, Sensing and Communications for next-generation wireless networks.”

In the context of next-generation wireless networks, advanced networking features, integrated with sensing and communications, play a foundational role, enabling new levels of intelligence and interaction with the physical environment. 6G networks aim to go beyond traditional mobile broadband by providing ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC), massive machine-type communication (mMTC), and advanced sensing applications, all integrated seamlessly. This rapid evolution introduces complex challenges for network design and management, particularly in ensuring seamless communication under stringent performance requirements.

Recent developments in local and metropolitan area networking present exciting opportunities to address these challenges. Advances in wireless technologies leveraging millimetre-wave (mmWave) and terahertz (THz) frequencies, as well as Optical Wireless Communications (OWC), coupled with innovative paradigms like Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces (RIS), Massive-MIMO architectures, and Cell-Free networks, are reshaping the wireless and wired connectivity. These technologies enable highly adaptive, energy-efficient, and capacity-rich solutions. Moreover, the integration of AI-driven network orchestration and edge computing further enhances the ability to meet the growing demand for real-time responsiveness and expansive bandwidth, and they ensure that the next generation of applications can operate reliably and efficiently in increasingly dynamic and dense network environments.

The intimate single-track format of the symposium encourages stimulating exchanges between researchers. The event is expected to be a forum for discussion of new and interdisciplinary ideas on network access protocols, network management and control, services and applications.

Topics

Papers are solicited on any topic in networking, including, but not limited to:

    B5G and 6G cellular data networking and communications
    AI and machine learning for local and metropolitan area networking and communications
    AI and machine learning for network measurement and traffic analysis
    Cloud, edge, and fog computing integration
    Co-existence and heterogeneity support at the edge (HetNets)
    Datacenter networks
    Energy efficiency for local and metropolitan area networking
    Information-centric networking in local and metropolitan areas
    Information security for local and metropolitan area networking
    Intelligent routing, forwarding, and scheduling
    Machine-to-machine communication
    Networking designs for AI and ML
    Networking for online education and entertainment
    Networking protocols and architectures for the IoTs
    Network and transport mechanisms for latency reduction
    Network virtualization in local and metropolitan areas
    Network Digital Twins (NDTs) and AI/ML
    Network security and AI/ML
    Network sensing and communications
    Performance and reliability of local and metropolitan area networks
    Public safety networks
    Self-learning network architectures
    Software-defined networking in local and metropolitan areas
    Wireless access technologies
    Satellite networks and their integration with terrestrial network infrastructure
    Network protocols and architectures
    Non-Terrestrial Networks for 6G
    Optical wireless networking and communications
    RIS for networking and communications