Network selection in a WiMAX–WiFi environment

The tremendous growth of wireless technologies has introduced the potential of continuous service adaptation to the users’ needs by giving them the ability to be able to select and access the proper network based on different criteria. Moreover, next generation wireless networks have been designed to provide support for multimedia services, with different traffic characteristics and different Quality of Service (QoS) guarantees. However, the expansion of Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) networks poses new research era in the decision of the access network selection. In this paper, the existing access network selection schemes are classified into three categories: the network-centric, the user-centric and the collaborative schemes, and are analyzed respectively. Moreover, we propose a multicriteria access network selection algorithm applied in a WiMAX–WLAN environment, in order to facilitate the provision of high quality services and at the same time to satisfy different types of user Service Level Agreements (SLAs).