Network selection based on Cosine Similarity and Combination of Subjective and Objective Weighting

In the next generation heterogeneous wireless and mobile networks, the mobile terminal equipped with a multi-interface may be able to choose an optimal access network anywhere and at any time. The seamless handover between different technologies (Cellular, WiMAX, Wi-Fi, and Satellite) is referred to as vertical handover (VHO). However, the main challenge is to provide seamless connectivity to the mobile terminal in this heterogeneous environment. Therefore, VHO needs an effective network selection process based on multiple network parameters. This article presents a new network selection algorithm based on cosine similarity to rank alternative networks and combination method that integrates both subjective weights, calculated using the user’s experience, and objective weights, determined by the Entropy method. The performance indicators used in this study are ranking abnormality and the number of handoffs. Obtained results indicate that the developed method performed better than the conventional MADM methods widely used in the context of vertical handover namely TOPSIS, VIKOR, and GRA.