Eliminating Rank Reversal Phenomenon in GRA-Based Network Selection Method

In order to fulfill the users´ requirements, today´s mobile devices are equipped with multiple interfaces to make the connection possible to different type of networks. To select dynamically the best interface according to different network attributes, such as delay, bandwidth, cost, etc. must be taken into account. Grey Relational Analysis (GRA) is a promising algorithmic approach that can realize dynamic interface selection with multiple alternatives (interfaces) and attributes; however, similarly to some other decision methods, GRA also suffers from rank reversal phenomenon. In this paper alternative solutions are introduced to reduce and eliminate the probability of rank inconsistency, caused by the addition or deletion of an interface. The proposed methods are analyzed analytically and by simulations. Our results confirm that the proposed normalization methods significantly reduce, while one of it eliminates the rank reversal phenomenon.