This book includes five parts. The first part introduces the foundations and principles of cloud-network convergence, explaining why cloud computing and network infrastructures are evolving into a unified digital infrastructure. The second part examines cloud-centric technologies, including cloud systems, AI infrastructure, and intelligent resource management. The third part focuses on network-centric technologies such as software-defined networking, network function virtualization, data center networks, and cloud-based network control. The fourth part presents advanced directions, including cloud-network operating systems, computing power networks, AI for cloud-network systems, and cloud-network support for AI. The final part discusses standards, implementations, and representative deployment practices.

 Cloud-network convergence is becoming essential for applications that require low latency, high bandwidth, ubiquitous connectivity, and intelligent coordination across cloud, edge, and network domains. By combining theory, system architecture, standards, and deployment perspectives, this book helps readers understand how converged cloud-network systems are designed, optimized, and operated.

This book is intended for graduate students, researchers, engineers, system architects, and technical managers in computer science, cloud computing, networking, telecommunications, and AI infrastructure. It also serves as a reference for practitioners working on distributed cloud systems, edge computing, 5G/6G networks, data center networks, and intelligent networked services.

Jie Wu is the Laura H. Carnell Professor at Temple University and Director of the Center for Networked Computing (CNC). He previously served as Chair of the Department of Computer and Information Sciences and Associate Vice Provost for International Affairs at Temple University. Prior to joining Temple, he was a program director at the National Science Foundation and a distinguished professor at Florida Atlantic University, where he earned his Ph.D. His research interests include mobile computing, wireless networks, network security, distributed algorithms, applied machine learning, and cloud computing. Dr. Wu has published extensively in journals, conference proceedings, and books, and serves on the editorial boards of leading computing journals. He has held numerous leadership roles in major international conferences and professional organizations. Dr. Wu is a Fellow of the IEEE and AAAS, a recipient of the China Computer Federation Overseas Outstanding Achievement Award, and a Member of Academia Europaea.

Jiansong Zhang received his bachelor's and master's degrees in Automation from Tsinghua University and his Ph.D. in Computer Science and Engineering from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. He is currently a Principal Researcher at the China Telecom Cloud Computing Research Institute, focusing on cloud computing and cloud-network convergence. Previously, he worked at NIO, Alibaba DAMO Academy, and Microsoft Research. His research interests include cloud computing, communication systems, heterogeneous computing, and vehicle computing. He has received several prestigious recognitions, including the USENIX NSDI Best Paper Award, NSDI Test of Time Award, and ACM MobiSys Best Paper Candidate Award.

Shen Gao is a researcher at the China Telecom Cloud Computing Research Institute specializing in cloud-network convergence, computer networks, 5G, and wireless communication technologies. He earned a master's degree in Computer Science from the Illinois Institute of Technology and has held research and engineering roles at Taia Global and NSFOCUS Technologies. His work focuses on NFV, cloud computing, and next-generation network architectures. Shen has contributed to international standardization efforts, authored numerous technical standards and research publications, and served as Program Committee Chair for the Cloud-Network Convergence Workshop at MASS 2024.