Military Communications for the 21st Century


MILCOM 2018: October 29-31, 2018 • Los Angeles, CA, USA

(Note: Check the conference agenda for full details on sessions.)

MILCOM 2018 solicits unclassified technical papers and proposals for tutorials and panels on current and emerging topics applicable to all facets of military communications. We encourage professionals in industry, academia and government worldwide to contribute and participate. The general forum will be open to all and there will be a restricted access portion of the program to support ITAR-controlled material.

Technical Tracks – The five tracks below represent the top-level topics that participants should submit their contributions under. Contributions include but are not limited to academic, operational, conceptual and other aspects of current or anticipated military communications, or advances to take warfighter communications to the next levels. MILCOM 2018 welcomes submissions from government and military service programs and laboratories to embrace current trends in military communications.

Submit your draft paper by clicking on the appropriate track below:

TRACK 1 - Waveforms and Signal Processing  

Paper Topics:

  • Advanced Antenna and RF Technology
  • Anti-jamming Techniques
  • Cognitive Radios
  • Compressive Sensing
  • Cooperative Communication
  • Distributed Communication
  • Distributed Sensing
  • Dynamic Spectrum Management
  • Free-space Optical and Laser-based Communications
  • Millimeter Wave Communication
  • Modified Commercial Wireless Communication
  • Modulation and Coding
  • Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) Communication
  • Physical-layer Security
  • Propagation and Channel Modeling
  • Radar-Communications Coexistence
  • Radar Signal Processing
  • Radio Localization and Time Transfer
  • Satellite Communications
  • Signal Processing for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing
  • Underwater Communications
  • Wireless Relay Networks
  • Wireless Sensor Networks
TRACK 2 - Networking Protocols and Performance  

Paper Topics:

Types of networks:

  • Mobile Ad Hoc Networks
  • Mesh Networks
  • Sensor Networks
  • Optical Networks
  • Hybrid Optical-RF Networks
  • Internetworks
  • Heterogeneous Networks
  • Underwater Networks

Networking Paradigms:

  • Content-Based Networks
  • Cognitive Networks
  • Delay/Disruption Tolerant networks
  • Network Coding
  • Cross-Layer Design
  • Overlay Networks and Virtualization
  • Software-Defined Networking
  • Networked Control System

Network Control Algorithms:

  • Resource and State Discovery
  • Link Adaptation
  • Medium Access Control
  • Routing
  • Multicasting/Anycasting
  • Flow Control
  • Congestion Control
  • Error Control
  • Topology Control

Enhancement, Modelling, and Analysis of Performance:

  • Quality of Service Provision
  • Energy Saving and Harvesting for Low-Power Networks
  • Capacity and Throughput Analysis
  • Network Science
TRACK 3 - Cyber Security and Trusted Computing  

Paper Topics:

  • Advanced Persistent Threats Detection and Mitigation
  • Application Security and DevOps
  • Anonymity, Deception, and Privacy
  • Attack, Detection, Prevention, and Mitigation
  • Commercial Solutions for Classified Program Security
  • Communication System Security
  • Critical Infrastructure Security
  • Cyber Operations and Defense
  • Cyber Physical System Security
  • Deception in Cyber Security
  • Identity and Risk Management
  • Joint Tactical Network Security
  • Key Management
  • Malware Detection and Forensic Analysis
  • Moving Target Defense and Deception
  • Network Security and Privacy
  • Security and Privacy for Peer to Peer and Device to Device Communications
  • Security Tools for Communication and Information Systems
  • Security for Next-generation Networks
  • Security and Privacy in Social Media
  • Security in Virtual System Environment
  • Software Defined Network Security Management
  • System Security Testing and Evaluation Methods and Tools
  • System Vulnerability Detection and Mitigation
  • Tactical Cloud Security
  • Threat Monitoring and Analysis
  • Trusted Physical Layer Security
  • Wireless Mobile Network Security and Privacy
  • Dynamic Spectrum Access System Security
  • Security in Tactical Radios
  • Network Security for Vehicular Communications
  • Internet of Things (IoT) Security
  • Cellular System Security and Protection
  • Security for Distributed Systems
  • Security in High Performance Computing and Massively Parallel Processing Environments
TRACK 4 - System Perspectives  

Paper Topics:

  • Airborne Networks
  • Airborne Relay Communications Networks
  • Communications for Support of Autonomous Systems
  • Communications in Contested Environments
  • Communications-on-the-Move
  • Disadvantaged Networks
  • IED Detection/Geolocation
  • Integrated EW and Communications
  • Interference Mitigation in Military Communications Systems
  • Military Performance Standards for Communications
  • Protected MILSATCOM
  • Radio-Aware Routing Protocols for Terrestrial and Satellite Communications
  • Resilient Communications Architecture
  • Satellite Communications and Networks
  • Small (Micro-, Nano- and Pico-) Satellites for Communications
  • Software Defined Radios in Military Communications
  • Space Networks
  • Spectrum Situational Awareness
  • System Architecture
  • System Modeling and Simulations for Military Communications
  • Test Beds, Experiments, Exercises and Demonstrations
TRACK 5 - Big Data and Machine Learning for Tactical Networks  

Paper Topics:

  • Big Data Challenges in Tactical Networks
  • Big Data and streaming analytics in Tactical Networks
  • Machine Learning with sparse dirty data
  • Adversarial Machine Learning
  • Robust Machine Learning
  • Adversarial Reasoning
  • Distributed and Adaptive Online Learning
  • Novel computing architectures for resource-constrained machine learning
  • Applications of Machine Learning in
    • Tactical Network Management
    • Intrusion Detection in Tactical Networks
    • Dynamic Spectrum Access
    • Wireless localization
    • Resource management in tactical networks
    • Self organizing networks
  • Internet of Battlefield Things
  • Other selected topics in communications

Technical Papers

Unclassified Technical Program
The unclassified technical program provides a venue for papers and presentations that do not include ITAR-sensitive, classified or proprietary information. EDAS will be used for all unclassified submissions.

Restricted-Access Technical Program
The restricted-access technical program provides avenue for papers that contain ITAR-controlled information. To attend and participate in the restricted access program, one must be a U.S. citizen. In addition, papers originated outside of U.S. will not be accepted in this program. Password protected email must be used for all restricted-access submissions.

Tutorials and Panels
MILCOM 2018 solicits proposals for unclassified half-day tutorials and one and half-to two- hour panels. Relevant topics include state-of-the-art communications and networking technologies, cyber, and innovative techniques applied to military communications for the 21st century.

Program Chairs

  • Technical Program Chair – John Shea, Ph.D., University of Florida
  • Unclassified Technical Program Chair – Qinqing (Christine) Zhang, Ph.D., United Technologies Research Center
  • Unclassified Program Vice Chairs – Tom Halford, Ph.D., WPL, Inc. Niranjan Suri, U.S. Army Research Laboratory
  • Restricted-Access Technical Program Co-Chairs – Akinwale Akinpelu, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory; Adina Matache, Ph.D., Aerospace Corporation
  • Panels Program Co-Chairs – Bonnie L. Gorsic, The Boeing Company; Michael Kurdziel, Ph.D., Harris Corporation.
  • Tutorials Program Co-Chairs – Bharat Doshi, Ph.D., U.S. Army, Communications- Electronics Research Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC); Jerry Brand, Ph.D.

Important Date to Participate in MILCOM 2018

Unclassified: draft paper submissions and tutorial/panel proposals due by May 1, 2018 extended until May 21st.

Technical Papers, Tutorials and Panels: Draft paper submissions and tutorial/panel proposals due by May 1, 2018 extended until June 1st.

MILCOM welcomes submissions from all areas of military communications and related technology, programs and systems: Researchers, Inventors, and Technical Leaders from all the military services and associated industries, laboratories and universities.