The International Journal of Communication Systems provides a forum for R&D open to researchers from all types of institutions and organisations worldwide aimed at the increasingly important area of communication technology. The Journal's emphasis is particularly on the issues impacting behaviour at the system service and management levels. Published eight times a year it provides coverage of advances that have a significant potential to impact the immense technical and commercial opportunities in the communications sector. The International Journal of Communication Systems strives to select a balance of contributions that promotes technical innovation allied to practical relevance across the range of system types and issues. The Journal addresses both public communication systems (Telecommunication mobile Internet and Cable TV) and private systems (Intranets enterprise networks LANs MANs WANs). The following key areas and issues are regularly covered: Transmission/Switching/Distribution technologies (ATM SDH TCP/IP routers DSL cable modems VoD WDM etc.) System control network/service management Network and Internet protocols and standards Client-server distributed and Web-based communication systems Broadband and multimedia systems and applications with a focus on increased service variety and interactivity Trials of advanced systems and services; their implementation and evaluation Novel concepts and improvements in technique; their theoretical basis and performance analysis using measurement/testing modelling and simulation Performance evaluation issues and methods. The Journal has a prime remit to publish first-class original papers providing in-depth analysis of R&D work and Special Issues are produced each year that comprise many papers focusing on a particular theme. A further crucial role for the Journal is to enable the reader to identify emerging principles and trends in the communications arena. Papers that will aid cross-fertilisation between disciplines are encouraged. Case studies that describe practical applications of communication technologies are welcomed. Tutorial and review articles will also be featured on a regular basis. Review Policy: the review policy of the International Journal of Communication Systems is based on the following guidelines: Manuscripts are submitted with the understanding that the same work has not been published or is not under consideration elsewhere All papers will be subject to a well-established fair and unbiased peer review process by experts in the field Authors should obtain company and government clearances prior to submission of manuscripts Editors reserve the right to reject papers if they do not meet the Aims and Scope of the Journal if they are excessively long or if they are not adequately presented