Optimal Ranking-based Discovery and Selection of WMAT using Information Service of IEEE 802.21 in Mobile Wireless Heterogeneous Networks

The modern wireless Internet is becoming more and heterogeneous in nature due to the availability of mobile nodes (MN) with multiple interfaces. While the MN moves with different speeds, there are several issues that has to be considered to keep the ongoing TCP connection intact and ensuring always best connected (ABC) situation for on-the-go users. In this work, two very important issues are addressed: one is to detect the available wireless medium access technologies (WMATs) and other is to select the most suitable WMAT for MN. An optimal rank based method is proposed to select the most appropriate WMAT by using the information elements (IEs) of media independent information service (MIIS) of IEEE 802.21 standard. The quality of service and quality of experience parameters are anaysed and compared with the existing work in literature. Also the handover decision time specifically in the case of vertical handovers by avoiding unnecessary scanning of interfaces and passing the authentication from previous WMAT to next WMAT.The proposed scenario is simulated in NS-2. The simulation results demonstrates the utility of the proposed rank based method in discovery and selection of WMAT. The grey system theory is also applied to mathematically analyze the selection of the optimal WMAT.