Adaptive methods for location management in mobile cellular networks

Future mobile cellular networks will include complex algorithms and procedures that make them able to react optimally to the fluctuating conditions (propagation, traffic, services, ...). Among these mechanisms, location management is an important one as it deals with an essential function of the mobile cellular networks: locate each subscriber to provide him/her with the subscribed services. In this paper, we present the location management methods that are currently implemented in cellular networks and the adaptive methods that have been proposed for future mobile cellular networks. These methods are evaluated for different scenarios and their performance are compared by means of simulations.