Theory, Concepts and Future of Self Organizing Networks ‎‎(SON)‎

: The ever-developing technologies in wireless communication networks have the urge for integrating smartness and automation into these networks. This survey paper presents the literature on the rising field of self-organization as a new concept applied to wireless communication networks over the last two decades. We make an in-depth survey of the current literature, standards as well as projects in self-organizing communication networks. Also, our objective is to show a deep knowledge of this active field of research, by defining a simple taxonomy, algorithms, architectures, routing protocols, and security aspects for the design and implementation of self-organizing techniques. Also, we discuss existing solutions, compare their strength and weakness, point out assessment metrics and measurements, and mention the main research scopes for subsequent evolution. This article may act as a starting point and guidance for anybody who seeks to investigate the researches done on self-organization in the area of wireless communication networks.