On the complexity of "Always Best Connected" in 4G mobile networks

Global developments in wireless communications have shaped a novel, user-centric vision for the next generation of mobile systems and wireless access network broadly termed "4G". This widely accepted vision sketches a heterogeneous infrastructure comprising different wireless access systems in a complementary manner, where the user, supported by his/her personal intelligent agent(s), enjoys untethered connectivity and ubiquitous access to applications, value-added services and multimedia content over the most efficient combination of wireless and wireline systems available. We proceed to analyze the implications of this "Always Best Connected" vision to identify pivotal concepts and formulate an appropriate model. Furthermore, we proceed to analyze the complexity of our proposed model by showing that, in principle, being "Always Best Connected" translates to family of problems that are known to be NP-hard.