mobicom-topic-selection

MobiCom Topic Selection

MobiCom is the ACM SIGMOBILE flagship for mobile computing and wireless networking —

the radio, protocol, and mobility side of mobile. The fastest way to waste a rolling

deadline is to submit a paper whose real contribution belongs one venue over. This skill is

a fit and routing tool, not a substitute for the current CFP scope list.

The fit test

A MobiCom-shaped paper answers all four:

1. Is the contribution a wireless or mobile-networking mechanism? A protocol, a

link/PHY-MAC technique, a routing or scheduling method, an RF-sensing capability, a

measurement finding about mobile networks — something in the networking stack, not an

application that merely runs on a phone.

1. Does the wireless/mobility condition matter to the result? If the channel, spectrum,

interference, or mobility could be abstracted away with no loss, the contribution is

probably not MobiCom's.

1. Is there over-the-air evidence, or a credible plan for it? MobiCom expects real

radios and testbeds; a simulation-only story is a fit risk (mobicom-experiments).

1. Would MobiCom's reviewers be the right audience? Say why in one sentence using the

venue's own vocabulary, not "it is a top conference."

Routing map

Route by contribution type, not prestige. The nearest siblings and what pulls a paper

to each:

| Signal in the contribution | Better-fit venue |

|---|---|

| End-to-end mobile/embedded platform, wearable, or mobile app system | ACM MobiSys |

| Sensing pipeline, ubiquitous/embedded sensing infrastructure | ACM SenSys |

| Broad Internet/measurement/data-center networking, congestion control | ACM SIGCOMM |

| Networked/distributed systems design and implementation at large | USENIX NSDI |

| Security or privacy of wireless/mobile as the central claim | ACM WiSec |

| Ubiquitous-computing / on-body inference as the finding | ACM IMWUT (UbiComp) |

| Early idea without full evaluation | HotMobile or a workshop |

The MobiCom↔MobiSys line is the one authors get wrong most: a **wireless/networking

mechanism is MobiCom; an end-to-end platform whose artifact behavior is the point** is

MobiSys. When both are present, decide which is the contribution and which is the vehicle.

Contribution-type honesty

Name the contribution before choosing the venue:

[Contribution type] protocol / PHY-MAC technique / routing / RF sensing /
                    measurement study / mobile-networking system / other
[Wireless dependence] does the result change if the channel/mobility is idealized? y/n
[Evidence form] testbed / SDR prototype / deployment / trace / simulation-only
[Primary audience] the MobiCom sub-community that should review it

If the type is "measurement study," MobiCom rewards a study that changes how the community

models a mobile network — not a dashboard of numbers. If it is "RF sensing," the wireless

mechanism must be the contribution, not just the medium (see WiSee in

[../../resources/exemplars/library.md](../../resources/exemplars/library.md)).

Common misfit patterns

• The phone-app paper. Runs on mobile hardware but the novelty is an application or an

ML model; the wireless stack is incidental → MobiSys, IMWUT, or a domain venue.

• The pure-PHY paper. A modulation or coding result with no networking or systems

payoff → an information-theory or communications venue unless it changes a networked

mechanism.

• The simulation-only protocol. A routing or scheduling idea evaluated only in a

simulator; strong ones still need over-the-air or testbed evidence to clear the bar.

• The broad-systems paper wearing a wireless hat. A distributed-systems contribution

with a mobile motivating example → NSDI/OSDI.

Re-routing decision

If the paper misses MobiCom's bar, do not force it — re-route by type and record why. A

theory result goes to a theory venue, a platform to MobiSys, a measurement-heavy networking

study to SIGCOMM, an early idea to HotMobile. Re-routing early is cheaper than a rolling

deadline spent on a mismatch, and MobiCom's two-round review means a misfit often surfaces

as an early reject after round 1 rather than a rescue.

Output format

[Fit] High / Medium / Low (one-line reason in MobiCom's vocabulary)
[Contribution type] <named>
[Wireless dependence] result depends on channel/mobility? y/n
[Evidence form] testbed / SDR / deployment / trace / simulation-only
[Main gap] the single most important missing mechanism or measurement
[Re-route] <sibling venue if not a fit, with the signal that sends it there>