The interest in the Self-Organizing Network (SON) paradigm applied to wireless communications networks is high, both with respect to existing networks, but also for future radio access technologies beyond LTE and LTE-Advanced. 5G concepts are maturing, and the 6th IWSON aims at providing a forum for the early academic/industrial 5G RAN SON discussions. Furthermore, 5G ambitions also include a focus on verticals’ applications with end-to-end requirements and network function and cloud virtualization. SON may also be leveraged by recent advances in learning and cognition.

With the success of the first five IWSON events in Budapest, Paris, Dresden, Barcelona, and Glasgow and the progressive focus on SON as the means to improve the performance and operability of mobile radio networks, it is timely and important to continue this workshop series bringing together people with SON interests. The scope of IWSON is intended to attract both industry and academia, primarily with a focus on 3GPP technologies, but other systems can be considered as well.

The program will include oral presentations and a poster & demonstration session to enable lively discussions. The workshop welcomes submissions from both researchers and practitioners, either closely related to currently standardized systems or considering future systems.

Areas of interest include but are not limited to:
SON use cases and functions in future radio networks

SON in evolved radio networks, such as 5G and LTE beyond Rel. 13, including D2D, M2M, V2X technologies and others, heterogeneous networks (3GPP and non-3GPP): multi-layer, - vendor, -tech. (incl. WiFi), small cells and ultra-dense network scenarios
Load balancing, traffic steering, end-to-end traffic steering, mobility management, reliability
Interference and spectrum management
Energy Saving Management (ESM) in heterogeneous networks
SON for adaptive antenna systems and massive MIMO deployment
SON for radio access, backhaul, and core network
SON in shared multi-operator environments

SON management and coordination
Policy and objective driven SON deployment, management and enforcement
Coordination between network layers, vendors, technologies, RAN and backhaul
Monitoring stability and performance of SON operation

SON in the field
Test bed activities and experience from field trials

SON evolution and cognitive networking
Automation techniques and technologies beyond SON
Cognitive and self-learning mechanisms including big data aspects
Enhanced SON with geo-localization data
Scenario and application-specific SON, e.g., smart cities, telematics applications, disaster handling, car-to-machine communications
Service- and customer- aware SON