A fuzzy logic-based QoS evaluation method for heterogeneous networks

The quality of service of heterogeneous networks is usually manifested using a set of parameters. However, it is challenging to comprehend the performance of underlying services and access technologies completely using these parameters. In this context, this chapter proposes a methodical approach to map the traditional quality-of-service (QoS) parameters into a unified metric to quantify the QoS levels of heterogeneous networks. To achieve this, the fuzzy logic tools and techniques are employed. Extensive simulation studies are conducted to examine the effectiveness of this method. The results show that the adopted method is capable of representing the quantification of QoS level for both homogeneous and heterogeneous networks efficiently. This per-network unified QoS metric would be helpful for access selection algorithms, performance evaluation of different traffic models, and service-level agreement (SLA) contracts. Service providers are able to use this value to evaluate the performance of any network models prior to deployment.