An analytic network process and trapezoidal interval‐valued fuzzy technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution network access selection method

Next generation wireless networks consist of many heterogeneous access technologies that should support various service types with different quality of service (QoS) constraints, as well as user, requirements and provider policies. Therefore, the need for network selection mechanisms that consider multiple factors must be addressed. In this paper, a network selection method is proposed by applying the analytic network process to estimate the weights of the selection criteria, as well as a fuzzy version of technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution to perform the ranking of network alternatives. The method is applied to a heterogeneous network environment providing different QoS classes and policy characteristics. Each user applies the method to select the most appropriate network, which satisfies his or her requirements in respect of his or her service‐level agreement (SLA). Performance evaluation shows that when the user requests only one service, the proposed method performs better compared to the original technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution, as well as the Fuzzy AHP‐ELECTRE method. Moreover, the proposed method can be applied in cases where a user requires multiple services simultaneously on a device. The sensitivity analysis of the proposed method shows that it can be properly adjusted to conform to network environment changes. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.