The imminent wireless technologies are demanding fusion of several networks with diverse technologies. A convenient user device for such an environment is the multihomed host, which is capable of making use of simultaneous multiple connections of heterogeneous networks and smartly distributing/receiving data among them. The aim of this work is to develop a mechanism for assessing the multihoming concept and to propose a system model for increasing its applicability. The proposed model provided a novel user-centric scheme for multihoming for multi-radio access technologies (multi-RAT). It is considered an evolution of traffic offloading for gaining more capacity, higher data rates, and real-time services. This work assumes data classifications, evaluates and ranks the available connections, and utilizes the application data in an unequal load balance scheme. This is achieved by analyzing the performance of three of the most widely used alternative-choice for multiple attributes decision making (MADM) methods. The analytical hierarchy process (AHP), along with a utility equation, is applied to the system model for unequal load balance solution. The proposed model is targeting an energy efficient mechanism which satisfies application needs. Moreover, it reveals an efficient transmission mechanism for a better quality of service, traffic management, and availability solutions. The simulation results show that the proposed system surpassed its former counterparts.
Keywords: AHP; HetNet; MADM; MCDM; QoS; application preferences; load balance; multihoming; network selection; user-centric; utility connection equation.