Access Decision System for Seamless Connectivity in Heterogeneous Wireless Networks

Abstract

The overlay of several wireless technologies, such as Wi-Fi and LTE, in a geographic region has increased with the popularity of portable devices equipped with two or more communication interfaces. In this new scenario, a key challenge is the choice of network access and technology that best meets the users requirements. Nowadays, the network selection is based on performance criteria, as the strength of the transmission signal. However, with the advance in communication networks intended to provide highly efficient communication to end users, high transmission rates, security and Quality of Experience (QoE), it is necessary to employ criteria that represent more the users needs, in order to assist the access decision. In this direction, this work presents a decision-making system for the access network selection based on Markov Decision Process, in which the current choice does not depend on the historical choices. The system employs both performance and security criteria in the analysis of network quality. The Network Simulator 3 (NS3) has been used in the system evaluation, and the analysis of the results shows a reduction in the number of unnecessary transitions and effectiveness in choosing the most reliable network.