A network selection mechanism for next generation mobile communications

Next generation of mobile communications will be characterized by a heterogeneous infrastructure comprising different wireless access systems and will work in a complementary manner. One of the problems that users face is how to select the best network for the different services they can access. This paper proposes a network selection mechanism which provides users a prospect of being always best connected within an environment of heterogeneous mobile networks based on user activity, user preferences, service requirements, and networks conditions. This is achieved by a learning process which allows user to select an access network based in previous connections and a cost function that helps the user to select the best network that adapts to the needs.