Cooperative user–network interactions in next generation communication networks

Next Generation Communication Networks employ the idea of convergence, where heterogeneous access technologies may coexist, and a user may be served by anyone of the participating access networks, motivating the emergence of a Network Selection mechanism. The triggering and execution of the Network Selection mechanism becomes a challenging task due to the heterogeneity of the entities involved, i.e., the users and the access networks. This heterogeneity results in different and often conflicting interests for these entities, motivating the question of how they should behave in order to remain satisfied from their interactions. This paper studies cooperative user–network interactions and seeks appropriate modes of behaviour for these entities such that they achieve own satisfaction overcoming their conflicting interests.