A multi-criteria approach to decision-making in telecommunication network components selection

Abstract

The problem of decision-making regarding the selection of the optimal composition of telecommunication network components is very urgent. The subject of the research in the article is a multi-criteria approach to the selection of telecommunication network components. This approach is related to the evaluation of possible options based on a set of indicators. The set of such indicators is determined by the specifics of a telecommunication network. One of the most dominant devices in telecommunication (mobile) systems is speech codecs. When choosing the appropriate codec configuration, there is a need to make a decision considering a set of contradicting criteria.  The use of MCDM (Multiple Criteria Decision Making) methods when making decisions is a promising approach to solving such problems. The current article increases the efficiency of the multi-criteria approach to decision-making in the process of selecting telecommunication network components, in particular, a speech codec. The following methods were used: MARCOS (Measurement Alternatives and Ranking according to COmpromise Solution), entropy, CRITIC (Criteria Importance Through Inter-criteria Correlation) and BWM (Best–Worst method). The following results were obtained. Determining the weight of the criteria by which alternatives are evaluated is one of the key problems that arise when making multi-criteria decisions. Objective methods of entropy, CRITIC, and subjective BWM methods were used to find weighting factors of criteria. Different methods of determining the weights of the criteria give different values. The use of the combined BWM-CRITIC method is proposed, which balances the subjective opinions of experts and assessments made solely based on the decision matrix data. The values of the correlation coefficients showed a close relationship between the weights of the criteria determined by different methods. However, the strongest connection with other methods was shown by the combined BWM-CRITIC method. The MARCOS method was used to rank the alternatives and select the best alternative. A ranking of the set of speech codecs is obtained, which allows for determining the best alternative Conclusion. A comprehensive approach to the telecommunication network component selection is proposed, namely the multi-criteria BWM-CRITIC-MARCOS model, based on a combination of MCDM methods. The integration of methods into the proposed model provides a systematic approach to the assessment and selection of telecommunication network components.