Group registration with local anchor for location tracking in mobile networks

In mobile networks, the location of a mobile user needs to be traced for successful and efficient call delivery. In existing cellular networks, as a mobile user changes his/her location area (LA), a location registration request is sent to the home location register (HLR) to update the user profile to point to the new LA. With a large number of mobile subscribers, this conventional registration strategy will incur a high volume of signaling traffic. We propose a new location registration strategy, called Group Registration (GR), which efficiently reduces the location registration cost by reporting location changes to the HLR for multiple mobile terminals (MTs) in a single location update request message. Specifically, the IDs of the MTs newly moving into an LA are buffered and sent to the HLR for location update in the route response message of the next incoming call to any MT in the LA. An analytic model is developed and numerical results are presented. It is shown that the proposed GR strategy can achieve significant cost reductions compared to the conventional strategy and the local anchor strategy over a wide range of system parameters. Moreover, the GR strategy results in a much smaller call delivery latency than the local anchor strategy.     

An auxiliary user location strategy employing forwarding pointers to reduce network impacts of PCS

We propose an auxiliary strategy, calledper-user forwarding, for locating users who move from place to place while using Personal Communications Services (PCS). The forwarding strategy augments the basic location strategy proposed in existing standards such as GSM and IS-41, with the objective of reducing network signalling and database loads in exchange for increased CPU processing and memory costs. The key observation behind forwarding is that if users change PCS registration areas frequently but receive calls relatively infrequently, it should be possible to avoid registrations at the Home Location Register (HLR) database, by simply setting up a forwarding pointer from the previous Visitor Location Register (VLR). Calls to a given user will first query the user's HLR to determine the first VLR which the user was registered at, and then follow a chain of forwarding pointers to the user's current VLR. We use a reference PCS architecture and the notion of a user'scall-to-mobility ratio (CMR) to quantify the costs and benefits of using forwarding and classes of users for whom it would be beneficial. We show that under a variety of assumptions forwarding is likely to yield significant net benefits in terms of reduced signalling network traffic and database loads for certain classes of users. For instance, under certain cost assumptions, for users withCMR<0.5, forwarding can result in 20–60% savins over the basic strategy. This net benefit is due to the significant saving in location update compared to a penalty of moderately increased call setup times for the infrequent occasions when these users do receive calls.     

Two-level pointer forwarding strategy for location management in PCS networks

For a IPCS network to effectively deliver services to its mobile users, it must have an efficient way to keep track of the mobile users. The location management fulfills this task through location registration and paging. To reduce the signaling traffic, many schemes such as a local anchor (LA) scheme, per-user caching scheme and pointer forwarding scheme have been proposed in the past. In this paper, we present a new location management scheme which intends to mitigate the signaling traffic as well as reduce the tracking delay in the PCS systems. In this strategy, we choose a set of visitor location registers (VLRs) traversed by users as the mobility agents (MA), which form another level of management in order to make some registration signaling traffic localized. The idea is as follows: instead of always updating to the home location register (HLR), which would become the bottleneck otherwise, many location updates are carried out in the mobility agents. Thus, the two-level pointer forwarding scheme is designed to reduce the signaling traffic: pointers can be set up between VLRs as the traditional pointer forwarding scheme and can also be set up between MAs. The numerical results show that this strategy can significantly reduce the network signaling traffic for users with low CMR without increasing much of the call setup delay.     

An efficient location cache scheme for three‐level database architecture in PCS networks

Recently, hierarchical architecture for location databases has been proposed in order to accommodate the growing number of personal communication systems users. With the three‐level hierarchical database architecture, which is compatible with the current cellular mobile systems, newly developed additional databases, including the regional location database (RLR), are positioned between the HLR and the VLRs. We propose an efficient cache scheme, the double T‐thresholds location cache scheme, which could reduce the network and database costs to lookup a portable using the three‐level architecture. This scheme extends the existing T‐threshold location cache scheme, which is effective only under the two‐level architecture of location databases currently adopted by IS‐41 and GSM. The idea behind our proposed scheme is to use two pieces of cache information, VLR and RLR, which serve the called portables. These two pieces are required in order to exploit not only the locality of a registration area (RA), but also the locality of a regional registration area (RRA), a wide area covered by the RLR. We also use two threshold values in order to determine whether the two pieces are obsolete. In order to model the RRA residence time, the branching Erlang‐∞ distribution is introduced. The cost analysis presented in this paper shows that the double T‐thresholds location cache scheme significantly reduces the network and database costs for most patterns of portables. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

More efficient location tracking in PCS systems using a noveldistributed database system

In personal communication services (PCS), the complete location information and subscribers' profiles are kept in a database called the home location register (HLR). Another database, the visitor location register (VLR), is used to store partial location information. When a mobile user is called, the system queries the HLR to determine the location of the called party. Distributed databases have been introduced to improve the efficiency of querying the HLR. This paper presents an alternative means of constructing a distributed database. The proposed database design employs fixed pointers to link distributed data. Each database contains a portion of the system's information as well as several pointers. The pointers identify the location of real data, enabling the system to obtain the required information efficiently. The database of the proposed design is markedly smaller than the fully distributed databases since each database of the proposed design stores only partial information. Subscriber information is stored only in one database, thus allowing a single database, rather than multiple databases, to be updated. The single update presented herein notably reduces the signal traffic load. If the caller is in the registration area of some HLR, which holds the called party's information, the response time is significantly decreased since the transactions are served only by the local database. This phenomenon is referred to as the calling locality. The proposed method effectively shares the database and the network loading that originates from several databases' tracking mobile users in a PCS system. According to the results presented, this method is highly effective for systems with a heavy load and high calling locality. The single update feature of the proposed design reduces the traffic in the signaling link and the processing load of a database. However, the proposed method includes no fault tolerance and therein differs from the fully distributed design     

One-step pointer forwarding strategy for location tracking indistributed HLR environment

One of the main challenges in personal communication service (PCS) is to locate many mobiles that may move frequently from place to place. Such a system operation is called location tracking. Many network signals flow, and database queries are required to achieve such a task. In addition to the two-level hierarchical strategy in IS-41 and GSM, several strategies have been proposed to improve the efficiency of location tracking. Pointer forwarding was used to reduce the expensive home location register (HLR) accesses. Previously, the distributed HLR scheme was proposed to prevent the HLR from becoming a bottleneck in the signaling network. However, the length of a forwarding pointer chain may be lengthened in a distributed HLR environment. We propose a more efficient strategy to overcome this potential problem. This strategy attempts to migrate the locating chains in a distributed HLR system when a mobile issues a registration operation. As a consequence, the length of any forwarding pointer chain does not exceed one in our strategy. Simulation results indicate that our strategy significantly decreases the locating cost. In fact, this strategy provides an upper bound of location tracking time owing to the fact that the length of any locating path does not exceed one. Furthermore, obsolete entries in local databases visitor location registers can be reclaimed in this strategy     

Location tracking with distributed HLR's and pointer forwarding

Location tracking operations in a personal communications service (PCS) network are expensive. A location tracking algorithm called pointer forwarding has been proposed to reduce the location update cost. The key observation behind forwarding is that if users change PCS registration areas (RAs) frequently, but receive calls relatively infrequently, it should be possible to avoid registrations at the home-location register (HLR) database by simply setting up a forwarding pointer from the previous visitor-location register (VLR). Calls to a given user will first query the user's HLR to determine the first VLR, which the user was registered at, and then follow a chain of forwarding pointers to the user's current VLR. To reduce the “find” cost in call delivery, the PCS provider may distribute HLR databases in the network. This paper integrates the concept of distributed HLRs with pointer forwarding, and the new scheme is referred to as the pointer forwarding with distributed HLR (PFDHLR). Since no registration to the HLR is performed in the pointer forwarding scheme when a user moves to the new locations, the cost of updating multiple HLRs is eliminated in PFDHLR. Our study indicates that PFDHLR may significantly reduce the mobility management cost compared with the single HLR approach     

A distributed control strategy for wireless ATM networks

Cellular networks are expected to be upgraded to offer Personal Communication Services (PCS). The mobility management and wireless call control approach used in cellular networks are currently being proposed for use in PCS networks. Recent work indicates that both the signaling load and database update rates caused by these mobility management and call control procedures will increase significantly in next generation PCS networks. In this paper, we propose and analyze a new cluster-based architecture and define algorithms to effectively handle mobility management and call control functions for PCS. We assume an ATM network infrastructure. Some of the key aspects of our proposal include simplifying the mobile location and tracking function, performing connection setup in segments, eliminating the need for user service profile downloads between networks, and more efficient routing of connections by removing the need for an anchor switch. Advantages of this approach include a reduction in signaling traffic load, improved call/connection setup delays, and more efficient routing of connections. We carry out an analysis of our solution for high-tier PCS applications.     

Phone number portability for PCS systems with ATM backbones usingdistributed dynamic hashing

Current cellular subscribers have a geographic phone number (e.g., in AMPS and US digital cellular systems) or a number which contains the network provider's identity (e.g., in GSM), and whenever subscribers register or receive (and possibly, originate) a call, a home location register (HLR) database has to be queried. The wired infrastructure supports a function called global title translation (GTT) that converts the subscriber's number to an HLR database address. A special feature of next generation wireless access service will be to support personal communication services (PCS) and wireless subscribers with portable personal numbers, or nongeographic phone numbers (NGPNs), that do not indicate the service provider or HLR database serving the user. In addition, the GTT function may not be available when the wired backbone is an ATM network. Thus a key function required in future wireless access systems with wired ATM backbones will be the ability to translate an NGPN to the identity of the HLR which serves the subscriber, a process we call NGPN translation. We discuss the requirements of NGPN translation and some alternative schemes. We propose two schemes for fast, efficient, scalable and flexible NGPN translation which use ideas of dynamic hashing, caching, and indirection. The schemes use a hash function in the visiting location registers (VLRs) (or serving SCP) and a set of distributed translation servers which store the NGPN-to-HLR mapping. We discuss how the operations required to maintain the translation information can be performed. Finally, we perform a simplified analysis of the scalability of the alternative schemes as well as the hash-based schemes we propose     

A cost effective distributed location management strategy for wireless networks

The mobility feature of mobile stations (MSs) imposes a large burden on network traffic control as a result of location management. Design issues of location management include MS registration (updating) and call setup (paging). Previous approaches introduced several network topologies for updating and paging procedures, but most of them focused on a single problem: either updating optimization or paging optimization. In this paper, we design and integrate two mechanisms, distributed temporary location caches (TLCs) and distributed home location registers (HLRs), to reduce database access delay and to decrease network signaling traffic in both updating and paging for low power, low tier micro cellular systems. By using TLCs, our approach can improve the performance of updating and paging in comparison with previous approaches. Experimental results based on our analytic model show that our location management procedures have lower HLR access rate, lower registration cost, and lower call setup cost than other approaches.     

3G 蜂窝网络中GLR 故障恢复分析

在3G蜂窝网络中,归属位置寄存器(HLR)、网关位置寄存器(GLR)、访问位置寄存器(VLR)组成三级数据库结构。当漫游移动用户在GLR中的位置信息错误或过时时,对该用户的入呼将失败。由于三层结构设计中,GLR与HLR的通信一般涉及国际长途信令,使得GLR的故障恢复设计非常重要。为尽可能减少对长途资源的占有,对GLR故障恢复提出了一种新的算法并对其性能作了相应的分析。     

A profile-based location strategy and its performance

Future microcellular personal communications systems (PCSs) will be characterized by high user density and high mobility. It is expected that registrations will incur a large amount of the radio link signaling traffic. A profile-based strategy (PBS) is proposed to reduce the signaling traffic on the radio link by increasing the intelligence within the fixed network. The system maintains a sequential list of the most likely places where each user is located. The list is ranked from the most to the least likely place where a user is found. When a call arrives for a mobile, it is paged sequentially in each location within the list. When a user moves between location areas in this list, no location update is required. The list may be provided by the user or may be based on each user's past calling history. The method for doing this is outside the scope of this work. This work focuses on the potential performance improvements that can result from maintaining such a list. This paper compares the performance of the proposed strategy to the typical geographic-based location-tracking schemes being implemented in evolving digital cellular and cordless standards. Key performance measures for the comparison are radio bandwidth, fixed network SS7 traffic, and call setup delay. We investigate the conditions under which the PBS performs better than the traditional scheme. Results indicate that over a wide range of parameters, it may be possible to reduce both the radio bandwidth and fixed network signaling load for a modest increase in call setup delay     

Ad hoc mobility management with uniform quorum systems

A distributed mobility management scheme using a class of uniform quorum systems (UQS) is proposed for ad hoc networks. In the proposed scheme, location databases are stored in the network nodes themselves, which form a self-organizing virtual backbone within the flat network structure. The databases are dynamically organized into quorums, every two of which intersect at a constant number of databases. Upon location update or call arrival, a mobile's location information is written to or read from all the databases of a quorum, chosen in a nondeterministic manner. Compared with a conventional scheme [such as the use of home location register (HLR)] with fixed associations, this scheme is more suitable for ad hoc networks, where the connectivity of the nodes with the rest of the network can be intermittent and sporadic and the databases are relatively unstable. We introduce UQS, where the size of the quorum intersection is a design parameter that can be tuned to adapt to the traffic and mobility patterns of the network nodes. We propose the construction of UQS through the balanced incomplete block designs. The average cost, due to call loss and location updates using such systems, is analyzed in the presence of database disconnections. Based on the average cost, we investigate the tradeoff between the system reliability and the cost of location updates in the UQS scheme. The problem of optimizing the quorum size under different network traffic and mobility patterns is treated numerically. A dynamic and distributed HLR scheme, as a limiting case of the UQS, is also analyzed and shown to be suboptimal in general. It is also shown that partitioning of the network is sometimes necessary to reduce the cost of mobility management     

Dynamic hierarchical database architecture for location managementin PCS networks

This paper introduces a dynamic hierarchical database architecture for location management in personal communications service (PCS) networks. The proposed scheme allows the dynamic adjustments of user location information distribution based on the mobility and calling patterns of the mobile terminals (MTs). A unique distribution strategy is determined for each MT, and location pointers are set up at selected remote locations which indicate the current location of the MTs. This method effectively reduces the signaling and database access overhead for location registration and call delivery. Besides, the required processing is handled by a distributed network of directory registers and centralized coordination is not necessary. The functions of the other network elements, such as the home location register (HLR) and the visitor location registers (VLRs), remain primarily unchanged. This greatly facilitates the deployment of this scheme in current PCS networks     

Hybrid Scheme with Adaptive Replication and Mobility Anchoring Point (MAP) in Wireless Networks

Replication strategy is mostly useful for replicating the mobile user’s profile at selected locations from which some callers have higher calling rate. Location management scheme also include replication strategy to reduce the location lookup cost of called mobile user. It plays important role in personal communication services in order to reduce call setup cost, call setup time, and increases the QoS (quality of service). In prior replication schemes, called user’s location profile is placed at some fixed and limited number of visitor location registers (VLRs) based on call history of the caller. In prior hybrid schemes location update and replication strategies are combined together. These prior hybrid schemes apply pointer forwarding strategy and replication. But these schemes have limitations like holding “loose” form of location profile and higher location update cost. We have proposed a new hybrid scheme which includes adaptive replication of updated user’s location profile and mobility anchoring point (MAP) for location update. The main objective of the proposed scheme is to reduce call setup cost and call setup time. In order to achieve the objective, adaptive replication is applied at certain visitor location registers (VLRs) according to movement of caller. The replica is kept updated at MAP and replicated to neighbor VLRs as per movement of the caller. We have presented fluid-flow based analytical modeling which shows that proposed scheme outperforms the prior hybrid scheme.     

Group deregistration strategy for PCS networks

This letter proposes a novel deregistration strategy-group deregistration-for PCS networks. In the proposed strategy, instead of deregistering a mobile terminal (MT) right after the MT leaves its registration area (RA), the home location register (HLR) keeps the MT's identification in a list associated with the RA. When the next registration from the RA arrives, the HLR sends the MT identification list to the RA along with the registration acknowledgment message. The RA then deregisters these MTs. Compared to the conventional deregistration strategy, the proposed strategy greatly reduces both the signaling traffic and the database load     

On the effectiveness of alternative paths in QoS routing

We propose a routing strategy in which connection requests with specific bandwidth demands can be assigned to one of several alternative paths connecting the source to the destination. The primary goal of this multiple‐path approach is to compensate for the inaccuracy of the knowledge available to routing nodes, caused by the limited frequency of link state (LS) information exchanges. We introduce a collection of K‐shortest path routing schemes and investigate their performance under a variety of traffic conditions and network configurations. We subsequently demonstrate that K‐shortest path routing offers a lower blocking probability in all scenarios and more balanced link utilization than other routing methods discussed in the literature. With our approach, it is possible to reduce the frequency of link state exchanges, and the incurred bandwidth overhead, without compromising the overall performance of the network. Based on the proposed routing scheme, we investigate different link state dissemination algorithms, which are aimed at reducing the communication overhead by prioritizing the scope and differentiating the qualitative content of LS update messages. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of the Home Location Register/Authentication Center in the CDMA Mobile System

In this paper, a home location register (HLR) for CDMA mobile communication system (CMS) is introduced. It stores the mobile station (MS) subscribers’ locations and supplementary service information. Call processing procedures for HLR are developed to receive and store subscriber's location coming from mobile exchange (MX) during the location registration, and to transfer subscriber's location and supplementary service information to the MX during the mobile-terminated call setup. For fast call processing by increasing database access speed, a memory-resident database management system is devised. For easy and secure HLR operation, administration and maintenance functions and overload control mechanisms are implemented. Designed HLR hardware platform is expandable and flexible enough to reallocate software blocks to any subsystems within the platform. It is configurable according to the size of subscribers. An authentication center (AC) is developed on the same platform. It screens the qualified MS from the unqualified. The calls to and from the unqualified MS are rejected in CMS. To authenticate the MS, the AC generates a new authentication parameter called “AUTHR“ using shared secret data (SSD) and compares it with the other AUTHR received from the MS. The AC also generates and stores seed keys called “A-keys” which are used to generate SSDs. The HLR requirements, the AC requirements, software architecture, hardware platform, and test results are discussed.     

A mapping forwarding approach for supporting mobility in networks with identifier/locator separation

The identifier/locator separation has been widely recognized as a feasible solution for addressing the current Internet's routing scaling problem. Moreover, such a separation solution in terms of mobility can keep connection survivability and support global seamless roaming. A critical challenge in supporting efficient mobility is how to update the identifier‐to‐locator mappings of mobile nodes (MNs). In this paper, we propose a mapping forwarding (MF) scheme for location management in the identifier/locator separation architecture. In the MF scheme, a tunnel router (xTR) is selected as an agent of an MN and keeps the MN's identifier‐to‐locator mapping invariable by setting up an MF chain. As long as the MN is managed by the same xTR, the MN's mapping stored in the xTR of each correspondent node of the MN does not need to be updated, thus reducing the location update signaling cost. Meanwhile, the unchanged mapping assures the correct forwarding of packets, which reduces mobility‐related disruption and enhances the location management's reliability. In addition, for the handoff in two MF chains, we propose a data‐triggered update scheme that can achieve route optimization. To evaluate the proposed MF scheme, we establish two analytical models and formulate the blocking probability and the total protocol cost. The performance results show how the blocking probability changes under various parameters and how the MF scheme can effectively reduce the blocking probability compared with the location management scheme without the MF strategy. Meanwhile, our analysis demonstrates that the MF scheme has a lower overhead when the mobility rate is high. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.