A Comparison Between MADM Methods and Utility Functions in the Network Selection Context

Abstract

The vertical handover is the communication switch from a source point of attachment, to a destination one, using a different access typology, for some quality, cost, load balancing or security requirements. In fact, mobile users often walk through wireless multi-access environments and need diverse services. Thus, devices must smartly pick out the best target network to transfer the communications to, from those available anytime. The network selection must consider different parameters together, like the available bandwidth, the energy consumption, the cost, the security, etc. The works in the literature propose many techniques to tackle this decision issue, such as MADM methods and utility functions. These methods can consider multiple attributes together when evaluating the alternatives. This work aims to compare some combinations of these two decision-making techniques in the network selection context. The results show that the compared utility functions outperform MADM methods in some situations, and make steadier decisions to ensure the session continuity.