Network selection in a heterogeneous network

1. A user equipment (UE) is configured to select a node in a multiple radio access technology (multi-RAT) heterogeneous network (HetNet), the UE having computer circuitry configured to:

receive node-selection pricing information from a plurality of nodes in the multi-RAT HetNet;

determine an effective normalized rate for the plurality of nodes in the multi-RAT HetNet using the node-selection pricing information, wherein the effective normalized rate is represented by:

R

eff

=

R

⁡

(

SNR

)

Price

,

 where R eff is the effective normalized rate, R(SNR) is a function of a signal to noise ratio (SNR), and Price represents the node-selection pricing information; and

select a node to communicate with in the multi-RAT HetNet to maximize a selected preference based on the effective normalized rate.

2. The computer circuitry of claim 1 , wherein the selected preference is one of an effective data rate, a delay, a power level, a throughput, a quality of service, a power efficiency, a data transmission rate for the UE to communicate with the selected node in the multi-RAT HetNet.

3. The computer circuitry of claim 1 , wherein the selected preference is computed as a function of the node-selection pricing information.

4. The computer circuitry of claim 1 , wherein the selected preference is an effective utility that is represented by:

U eff =f(U user , U operator , Network price), where U eff is the effective utility, u user is a utility to a user, u operator is a utility to an operator, and Network Price is the node-selection pricing information.

5. A method for a user equipment (UE) selecting a heterogeneous network (HetNet) node in a multiple radio access technology (multi-RAT) HetNet, the method comprising:

receiving node-selection pricing information from a plurality of nodes in the multi-RAT HetNet;

determining an effective normalized rate for the plurality of nodes using the node-selection pricing information, wherein the effective normalized rate is represented by:

R

eff

=

R

⁡

(

SNR

)

Price

,

 where R eff is the effective normalized rate, R(SNR) is a function of a signal to noise ratio (SNR), and Price represents the node-selection pricing information; and

selecting a node in the multi-RAT HetNet using the node-selection pricing information to maximize a selected preference relative to the effective normalized rate.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising combining the effective normalized rate with a UE preference, a UE utility, or an operator preference to select the node in the multi-RAT HetNet.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising maximizing the selected preference by selecting a highest effective normalized data transmission or data reception rate.

8. The method of claim 5 , further comprising initiating a node association with the selected node in the multi-RAT HetNet.

9. The method of claim 5 , further comprising receiving the node-selection pricing information from a single radio access technology (RAT) in the multi-RAT HetNet.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the node-selection pricing information from the single RAT in the multi-RAT HetNet is determined using a node range extension scheme.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the effective normalized rate is represented by R(SNR origial )=PowerOffsetdB price/(1-Price), where R(SNR original ) is the effective normalized rate, PowerOffsetdB represents a power offset value in decibels, and Price is the node-selection pricing information.

12. The method of claim 5 , further comprising forming a connection between the UE and one of a plurality of nodes in the multi-RAT HetNet by:

determining an optimal node for association by rank ordering the normalized effective rates associated with each node; and

forming the connection with the one of the plurality of nodes based on the rank ordering.