Guest editorial

ireless communication comes in many varieties, from first to fourth generation (1G to 4G), from WiFi to WiMAX, and from Bluetooth to satellite phones. Researchers in both academia and industry are continuously being challenged by market demands for more varieties of high-quality services. In recent years, there have been many attempts to solve problems in wireless communications using methods typically belonging to other fields. For example, game theory is now widely used in designing distributed resource allocation schemes. Other examples include analytical tools in operations research, computer science, and physics. This feature topic aims at providing a state-of-the-art overview of some new R&D tools.