Special Issue on Integrated Computing and Networking for Next-Generation Space-Air-Ground Systems
Published 11 March, 2026
The rapid evolution of Space–Air–Ground Integrated Networks (SAGIN) is redefining global digital infrastructure by enabling ubiquitous connectivity, distributed edge computing, and autonomous intelligence across orbital, aerial, terrestrial, and maritime domains. By tightly integrating heterogeneous assets—including LEO/MEO satellite constellations, AI-enabled UAV swarms, high-altitude platforms, and terrestrial 5G/6G networks—SAGIN forms a highly dynamic, multi-layer architecture that fundamentally challenges conventional communication and computing paradigms. This unified network fabric supports mission-critical services such as real-time Earth observation, disaster response, autonomous logistics, and smart cities, while raising new challenges in cross-domain resource orchestration, mobility-aware computing, and energy-efficient intelligence at scale.
A central enabler of this transformation is Computing–Network Convergence (CNC), which advances SAGIN beyond isolated resource coordination toward a holistic co-design of communication, computation, and intelligence across all layers. CNC encompasses joint optimization of protocols, architectures, and learning-driven control mechanisms, including delay-tolerant networking for intermittent links, software-defined orbital edge computing, and federated learning across satellite constellations. Representative implementations include onboard intelligent processing for real-time data fusion, dynamic edge–cloud collaboration with satellites as orbital cloudlets, AI-driven autonomous network control, and in-network intelligence enabled by programmable data planes.
This Special Issue invites high-quality contributions that establish new system-level visions, architectural frameworks, and enabling technologies for computing–network integrated space–air–ground systems, with particular emphasis on interdisciplinary and forward-looking research.
The topics include but are not limited to:
- Holistic architectures for computing-network convergence in SAGIN
- Joint design of computing and communication protocols in space-air networks
- Cross-layer optimization for latency, energy, and throughput in dynamic environments
- Edge computing in UAV swarms and satellite constellations
- Onboard AI and in-orbit processing frameworks
- Collaborative computing among satellites, UAVs, and ground station
- Machine learning for task scheduling, resource management, and routing
- Digital twin and cognitive control in space-air integrated systems
- Autonomous network management based on reinforcement learning
- Secure computing offloading and communication in adversarial environments
- Resilient networking strategies under high dynamics and disruptions
- Trust models and authentication in distributed CNC frameworks
- Space-based IoT, remote sensing, and environmental monitoring
- Disaster response and emergency communication
- Next-generation aerial internet and broadband access for remote regions
Manuscript submission information:
The journal's submission platform (Editorial Manager®) is now available for receiving submissions to this Special Issue. Please refer to the Guide for Authors to prepare your manuscript, and select the article type of "CN for SAGIS" when submitting your manuscript online.
Authors should consult the link for submission instructions: https://www.editorialmanager.com/intecom/default2.aspx.
The Guide for Authors could be found on the Journal Homepage here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-information-and-intelligence/publish/guide-for-authors.
Timeline:
Submission deadline:July 01, 2026
Acceptance deadline: September 01, 2026
Publication Date: November 30, 2026
Guest editors:
Min Sheng
Professor, Xidian University, China
Email: msheng@mail.xidian.edu.cn
Dr. Min Sheng is currently a Full Professor and Director of the State Key Laboratory of Integrated Services Networks. She is the Vice Chair of IEEE Xi'an Section, an Editor for IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, and an Associate Editor for IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine. She has published over 200 refereed papers in international leading journals and key conferences in the area of wireless communications and networking. Her current research interests include Space-Terrestrial Integration networks, intelligent wireless networks, and mobile ad hoc networks. She received China National Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists in 2018.
Kaibin Huang
Professor, The University of Hong Kong, China
Email: huangkb@hku.hk
Kaibin Huang (Fellow, IEEE) received the B.E. and M.E. degrees from the National University of Singapore and the Ph.D. degree from The University of Texas at Austin, all in electrical engineering. He is the Philip K H Wong Wilson K L Wong Professor in Electrical Engineering and the Department Head at the Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), Hong Kong, China. His work was recognized with seven Best Paper awards from the IEEE Communication Society. He is a member of the Engineering Panel of Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC) and a RGC Research Fellow (2021 Class). He has served on the editorial boards of five major journals in the area of wireless communications and co-edited ten journal special issues. He has been active in organizing international conferences such as the 2014, 2017, and 2023 editions of IEEE Globecom, a flagship conference in communication. He has been named as a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate in the last six years (2019-2024) and an AI 2000 Most Influential Scholar (Top 30 in Internet of Things) in 2023-2024. He was an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and the U.S. National Academy of Inventors.
Zhu Han
Professor, University of Houston, USA
Email: hanzhu22@gmail.com
Zhu Han (S'01–M'04-SM'09-F'14) received the B.S. degree in electronic engineering from Tsinghua University, in 1997, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1999 and 2003, respectively. From 2000 to 2002, he was an R&D Engineer of JDSU, Germantown, Maryland. From 2003 to 2006, he was a Research Associate at the University of Maryland. From 2006 to 2008, he was an assistant professor at Boise State University, Idaho. Currently, he is a John and Rebecca Moores Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department as well as in the Computer Science Department at the University of Houston, Texas. Dr. Han's main research targets on the novel game-theory related concepts critical to enabling efficient and distributive use of wireless networks with limited resources. His other research interests include wireless resource allocation and management, wireless communications and networking, quantum computing, data science, smart grid, carbon neutralization, security and privacy. Dr. Han received an NSF Career Award in 2010, the Fred W. Ellersick Prize of the IEEE Communication Society in 2011, the EURASIP Best Paper Award for the Journal on Advances in Signal Processing in 2015, IEEE Leonard G. Abraham Prize in the field of Communications Systems (best paper award in IEEE JSAC) in 2016, IEEE Vehicular Technology Society 2022 Best Land Transportation Paper Award, and several best paper awards in IEEE conferences. Dr. Han was an IEEE Communications Society Distinguished Lecturer from 2015 to 2018 and ACM Distinguished Speaker from 2022 to 2025, AAAS fellow since 2019, and ACM Fellow since 2024. Dr. Han is also the winner of the 2021 IEEE Kiyo Tomiyasu Award (an IEEE Field Award), for outstanding early to mid-career contributions to technologies holding the promise of innovative applications, with the following citation: "for contributions to game theory and distributed management of autonomous communication networks."
Haibo Zhou
Professor, Nanjing University, China
Email: haibozhou@nju.edu.cn
Dr. Haibo Zhou received the Ph.D. degree in information and communication engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China, in 2014. From 2014 to 2017, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Broadband Communications Research Group, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Waterloo, Canada. He is currently a Full Professor with the School of Electronic Science and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China. He has published over 100 scientific articles in leading journals and international conferences, including IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing, IEEE Internet of Things Journal, and IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications. His research interests include resource management and protocol design in cognitive networks. He was the author/co-author of seven journal/conference best paper awards at WCSP in 2015, IEEE TCGCC Best Conference Paper Award in 2017, JCIN Best Journal Paper Award in 2017, IEEE VTC-Fall in 2020, IEEE Globecom in 2020, IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica "Norbert Wiener Review Award" in 2020, and WCSP in 2021. Dr. Zhou was a recipient of the 2019 IEEE ComSoc Asia–Pacific Outstanding Young Researcher Award. He served as Track/Symposium Co-Chair for IEEE/CIC ICCC 2019, IEEE VTC-Fall 2020, IEEE VTC-Fall 2021, and IEEE Globecom 2022. He served as a Guest Editor for the IEEE Communications Magazine in 2016. He is currently an Associate Editor of the IEEE Internet of Things Journal, IEEE Network, and IEEE Wireless Communications Letter.
Di Zhou
Professor, Xidian University, China
Email: zhoudi@xidian.edu.cn
Dr. Di Zhou received the B.E. and the Ph.D. degrees in communication and information systems from Xidian University, Xi'an, China, in 2013 and 2019, respectively. She was also a Visiting Ph.D. Student with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Houston, from 2017 to 2018. She is currently a Professor with the State Key Laboratory of Integrated Service Networks, Xidian University. Her research interests include dynamic resource allocation, mission planning, and performance evaluation in space-terrestrial integration networks and space information networks. She has published more than 80 scientific articles in leading journals and international conferences, including IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, and IEEE Transactions on Communications. She served as the TPC for IEEE GLOBECOM 2025, IEEE VTC 2024 Spring, IEEE VTC 2025 Spring, IEEE VTC 2025 Fall, and IEEE/CIC ICCC 2025.
Qian Chen
Postdoctoral Fellow, The University of Hong Kong, China
Email: qcheneee@hku.hk
Dr. Qian Chen received the B.E. and Ph.D. degrees in Information and Communication Engineering from the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), Harbin, China, in 2018 and 2023, respectively. She is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), Hong Kong, China. From 2021 to 2022, she was a Visiting Ph.D. Student with the Information Systems Technology and Design (ISTD) Pillar, Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), Singapore. She was also a Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow with the School of Computing Science, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom, in 2025. She received the Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Nomination Award in 2024 from the China Education Society of Electronics and the HKU University Research Committee (URC) Postdoctoral Fellow Scheme in 2025. Her current research interests include wireless networking, edge intelligence, and space-air-ground integrated networks.
Ziye Jia
Associate Professor, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, China
Email: jiaziye@nuaa.edu.cn
Dr. Ziye Jia received the B.E., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in communication and information systems from Xidian University, Xi'an, China, in 2012, 2015, and 2021, respectively. From 2018 to 2020, she was a Visiting Ph.D. Student with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Houston. She is currently an Associate Professor with the Key Laboratory of Dynamic Cognitive System of Electromagnetic Spectrum Space, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, China. Her current research interests include space-air-ground networks, aerial access networks, UAV networking, resource optimization and machine learning. She has published more than 70 scientific articles in leading journals and international conferences. She obtained the Best Paper Award of FCN 2025. She is currently an Associate Editor of the IEEE Internet of Things Journal. She served as the TPC for IEEE GLOBECOM 2025/2024/2023,IEEE WCNC 2025/2024, IEEE WCSP 2025, etc.