Present  day  mobile  networks  are  evolving  towards  heterogeneous overlaying
infrastructure. Traditional handover decisions  that are mainly based  on signal
strength are not sufficient to  provide ubiquitous and seamless mobility  across
heterogeneous networks. Intelligent  handover decision is  needed so that  users
can select the best option available  from diverse networks and services as  per
their requirements. The decision mechanism  is also needed to realize  multimode
functionality in current  and future multimode  mobile devices that  will enable
user applications to use multiple radio interfaces simultaneously and to  switch
between  active  interfaces  based  on  application  requirements  and interface
capabilities. This paper introduces  a context-aware vertical handover  decision
model  suitable for  heterogeneous networks  environment based  on the  Analytic
Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. It illustrates the whole mechanism starting from
grouping and matching of relevant contexts  in the AHP model to the  application
management based on the handover decision.
Award: Outstanding Paper Award in ICNEWS 2006.