Towards the goal of a comprehensive access infrastructure in the sixth-generation (6G) networks, along with the terrestrial established networks, aerial radio access networks (ARANs) provide a radio access medium from the sky to end-users for Internet services using aerial base stations (ABSs). Typical ABSs include aircraft and airships such as UAVs, drones, balloons, and airplanes equipped with wireless transceiver antennas while the backhaul links may be provided by (miniaturized) satellites and terrestrial macro base stations. The hierarchical and multitier ARANs incorporate multi-access edge computing (MEC) technologies in the ABSs to provide low-latency services with ultra-intelligent computing and communication infrastructure.

Although the MEC-enabled ARANs introduce impressive advantages, the networks have recently faced several challenges against their maturity. First, while the mobility features of ABSs promise auspicious benefits, they also bring new design challenges. From a performance optimization perspective, the trajectory design of ARANs requires enhancement in terms of in-network computing and communication latency, spectral efficiency, energy efficiency, and resource orchestration. Second, energy efficiency is still a major concern in MEC-enabled ARANs since most ABSs are airborne components that are limited in battery capacity. Third, dynamic cooperative resource management in terms of networking, computing, and storage resources among heterogeneous ABSs should be considered to obtain an optimal service availability in the entire network. Finally, security and privacy issues have to be taken into accounts as user data is offloaded and travels through the networks. To realize the MEC-enabled ARANs, focused studies to address the mentioned challenges are vital.

This Special Issue focuses on topics related to ultra-intelligent computing and communication in MEC-enabled ARANs. Original research and review articles are welcome.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• MEC-enabled ARAN design and trial implementation
• Mobility-aware MEC-enabled ARAN topology
• Ultra-intelligent computing and communication in MEC-enabled ARANs
• Energy-efficient MEC-enabled ARANs
• Resource orchestration schemes in ARANs
• MEC-enabled UAV-assisted IoT systems
• Computing-driven routing in ARANs
• Ultra-reliable and low-latency services over ARANs
• Security and privacy issues in MEC-enabled ARANs