New data communication standards [Series Editorial]

The Internet has grown from a small experiment into a worldwide collaborative network capable of meeting the demands of more than one billion users. The rise of mobile access and its integration with optical transport networks, however, pose additional challenges. As smaller and smarter sensors and devices proliferate, increased network occupancy can disrupt delay-sensitive and high-priority traffic. Furthermore, as wireless networks become omnipresent, the user is placed at the center of virtualized networks. Capacities, IT resources, services, and applications must adaptively and automatically be configured to support continuously changing traffic patterns.