A class of call-fail-safe and distribution-effective multi-band multi-carrier traffic allocation methods for 3GB wireless systems

For better capacity and higher availability, present day third generation (3G) wireless systems based on the code division multiple access(CDMA) technology are evolving to operate on multiple carriers (frequencies) spread over multiple bands. In order to provide better quality of service, the 3GB (3rd generation and beyond) systems need to distribute calls equitably to different carriers on different base-stations accessible to the mobiles irrespective of the bands or carriers on which those mobiles initiated their calls. However, there is a risk of call failure when a call originated on a carrier in a band is migrated to another carrier in a different band, particularly because of the differences in the radio coverage of the base-stations operating in different bands. This paper presents a class of methods that offer equal robustness against call failures and varying degrees of call distribution effectiveness. For call distribution, these methods employ an enhanced carrier capacity measure (ECM) proposed in this paper. ECM augments the gross capacities of the carriers (to house calls) with pre-configured biases specific to the mobile users. We develop here an intuitively appealing distribution-effectiveness measure based on the ECM for comparing the methods. Relative performances of the proposed methods with respect to call failure rate and distribution effectiveness are established by means of simulation results for calls originating anywhere in the cell coverage area as well as calls originating exclusively near the cell boundaries. The latter results help to study the effect of mobility on the performances of the algorithms.     

Dynamic mobile user location update for wireless PCS networks

The basic architecture of a personal communication network consists of a wireline network and mobile terminals. Each mobile terminal communicates with the wireline network through a nearby base station. In order to route incoming calls to a destination mobile terminal, the network must keep track of the location of each mobile terminal from time to time. This is achieved bylocation update such that each mobile terminal reports its current location to the network at specific time points. When an incoming call arrives, the network will page the mobile terminal starting from the last updated location. A trade-off, therefore, exists between the frequency of location update and the number of locations paged in order to track down the mobile terminal. This paper introduces a location update policy which minimizes the cost of mobile terminal location tracking. A mobile terminal dynamically determines when to update after moving to a new cell based on its mobility pattern and the incoming call arrival probability. The performance of this scheme is close to that of the optimal policy reported earlier. However, the processing time requirement of this scheme is very low. The minimal computation required by this scheme enables its usage in mobile terminals which has limited energy supply and computational power.     

A statistical modeling approach to location estimation

Some location estimation methods, such as the GPS satellite navigation system, require nonstandard features either in the mobile terminal or the network. Solutions based on generic technologies not intended for location estimation purposes, such as the cell-ID method in GSM/GPRS cellular networks, are usually problematic due to their inadequate location estimation accuracy. In order to enable accurate location estimation when only inaccurate measurements are available, we present an approach to location estimation that is different from the prevailing geometric one. We call our approach the statistical modeling approach. As an example application of the proposed statistical modeling framework, we present a location estimation method based on a statistical signal power model. We also present encouraging empirical results from simulated experiments supported by real-world field tests.     

On optimum timer value of area and timer-based locationregistration scheme

In typical mobile communication systems, mobile station (MS) location information is updated when the MS crosses the location area boundary or the registration timer is expired. When a call attempt occurs, sequential paging rather than blanket paging is used to reduce the paging cost. We propose a new location update scheme in which to increase the paging accuracy, timer-based location update is performed within a location area. In this work, the optimum timer value of the area and timer-based location registration scheme with intelligent paging is derived. In case of a fixed location area, the optimum registration timer value depends on the speed and call arrival rate of the MS. If the speed or call arrival rate of the MS is high, location registration based on timer value should be performed frequently. Otherwise, location registration based on the crossing of location area is sufficient     

Optimising mobile phone self-location estimates by introducing beacon characteristics to the algorithm

Positioning technologies that use global system for mobile communication (GSM) networks for location estimation (such as the privacy observant location system (POLS) and the place lab framework) lack the accuracy that other positioning technologies like the global positioning system (GPS) have. GPS receivers are most of the time capable of placing a person within 10 m of a known location. Place Lab is an open platform framework implemented in Java for client-side location sensing that can calculate a position estimate from various beacon sources, such as GSM beacons. The POLS framework is a counterpart of Place Lab for Windows Smartphone devices which provide the tools to develop location-based services quickly. There is a lack of accuracy, however, when the location estimation algorithm uses only GSM readings. Measurements that have been made with Place Lab show a median accuracy of 232 m in downtown areas. Place Lab and POLS do not need additional hardware, apart from the mobile phone itself, however, their lack of accuracy compared to GPS is significant. Due to this rather poor accuracy, the use of those frameworks is limited to applications where the accuracy is not crucial. This article presents the results of improving the accuracy of location estimation in urban areas by extending the algorithm used in the POLS and Place Lab frameworks to take into account the beacon properties, effective radiated power (ERP) and beacon height when estimating a position. The extended algorithm based on beacon properties outperforms the centroid algorithm by over 30%.     

SAM LOST smart antennas-based movable localization system

Nowadays, wireless position location of multiple sources attracts considerable interest, not only for military, law-enforcement, and public safety applications, but also in the field of intelligent transportation systems and location-specific commercial services. In this paper, we present a complete, autonomous, and movable-on-demand localization system. It is based on the estimation of the direction of arrival of signals emitted by mobile sources, impinging on an array of sensors placed on board a mobile localization station, represented by any aerial or terrestrial vehicle. The system is especially tailored for wireless users unable to perform self-localization, and its most attractive characteristic is its inherent mobility, which allows a quick employment "on demand", in emergency situations, where other localization infrastructures are not present or are unable to properly operate. Procedures of autolocalization and autoorientation of the localization station, based on a set of emitting sources in known location, are considered as well. The user to be located should only be equipped with a very simple radio transmitter, whose signal can be received and identified by the localization station. Alternatively, in more sophisticated scenarios, the user's equipment can be a personal mobile phone, seamlessly connected with the localization station acting as a temporary base station. The performance of the overall system has been evaluated for a case of code division multiple access (CDMA)-based transceiver via computer simulations, showing that the achievable accuracy for locating the user position can fulfil the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) E-911 standard requirements for emergency calls over reasonably wide coverage areas.     

Dynamic model-based filtering for mobile terminal location estimation

Mobile terminal location is an important area of research because of its applications in location-sensitive browsing and resource allocation. The paper presents a method for reducing the error in mobile terminal location estimation. A preprocessor using nonparametric estimation is used to reduce the effects of non-line-of-sight and multipath propagation on the location procedure. A model-based dynamic filter is presented that uses an accurate model of mobile terminal motion to combine information from location measurements made at different time instances to create an improved location estimate. The model of mobile terminal motion has a kinematic state space model describing the physical rules governing terminal motion and a control model that describes the human control input into the motion process. Location dependency in the control input model is used to derive a new dynamic filter. This filter provides greatly improved accuracy over previously known location techniques and is much more robust to variations in the mobile terminal motion and nonlinear effects in the propagation environment.     

Modeling and performance evaluation of a cellular mobile network

An analytic model of cellular mobile communications networks with instantaneous movement is investigated in this paper. This cellular mobile network is showed to be equivalent to a queueing network and furthermore the equilibrium distribution of this cellular mobile network is proved to have a product form. The explicit expressions for handoff rates of calls from one cell to another, the blocking probability of new calls and handoff calls are then obtained. Actual call connection time (ACCT) of a call in this cellular mobile network is characterized in detail, which is the total time a mobile user engages in communications over the network during a call connection and can be used to design appropriate charging schemes. The average ACCT for both complete call and incomplete call, as well as the probability for a call to be incomplete or complete, are derived. Our numerical results show how the above measures depend on the new call arrival process for some specific reserved channels numbers in each cell. The results presented in this paper are expected to be useful for the cost analysis for updating location and paging in cellular mobile network.     

Locating Calls to the Emergency Services

Over recent years the number of calls made to the emergency services has significantly increased. The majority of this increase is derived from mobile calls and in many countries the proportion of mobile-originated calls is over 50%. Despatching emergency services is expedited if the location of the caller can be swiftly obtained. This involves the emergency call-handling centres working closely with telecommunications operators. The initiatives that have driven the provision of caller location are described as well as the associated standards. An overview of the technical requirements for mobile location is also given.     

采用动态窗口宽度和二次平均算法的SSOA定位方法

信号的中值估计是到达信号强度(SSOA)定位的核心,其误差主要来源于信道的快衰落和阴影(慢)衰落。信号平均是获得信号中值估计的重要手段,该文提出了二次平均和动态窗口宽度算法以提高中值估计精度,从而达到进一步提高定位精度的目的。计算机仿真结果表明,在衰落信道中,二次平均算法的定位精度比传统方法约高30％。采用动态窗口宽度后,可保证在移动台低速运动时仍具有较高的定位精度。     

120指挥调度中手机定位服务的架构及实现

在日常120中心接警电话中,手机电话呼救数量已经超过全部呼叫数量的50%。因此,仅对固定有线电话进行定位已经不能很好地满足120指挥调度日常工作需求。依据移动通信网络特点,提出了120指挥调度系统实施手机定位的方法以及手机定位中可能发生的问题和解决措施。     

GSMNVCDMA／TD-SCDMA紧急呼叫篚技术标准分析

紧急呼叫,用于移动终端与当地的紧急呼叫中心联系,能为移动终端用户提供紧急救援等服务。本文从国内外相关标准技术要求以及测试要求等方面对GSM／WCDM/TD-SCDMA制式中的紧急呼叫进行了分析。     

Enhanced distance-based location management of mobile communication systems using a cell coordinates approach

In managing the locations of mobile users in mobile communication systems, the distance-based strategy has been proven to have better performance than other dynamic strategies, but is difficult to implement. A simple approach is introduced to implement the distance-based strategy by using the cell coordinates in calculating the physical distance traveled. This approach has the advantages of being independent of the size, shape, and distribution of cells, as well as catering for the direction of movement in addition to the speed of each mobile terminal. An enhanced distance-based location management strategy is proposed to dynamically adjust the size and shape of location area for each individual mobile terminal according to the current speed and direction of movement. It can reduce the location management signaling traffic of the distance-based strategy by half when mobile terminals have predictable directions of movement. Three types of location updating schemes are discussed, namely, Circular Location Area, Optimal Location Area, and Elliptic Location Area. Paging schemes using searching techniques such as expanding distance search based on the last reported location and based on the predicted location, and expanding direction search are also explored to further reduce paging signal traffic by partitioning location areas into paging areas.     

Efficient estimation of call blocking probabilities in cellularmobile telephony networks with customer retrials

A novel approximate technique is proposed for the estimation of call blocking probabilities in cellular mobile telephony networks where call blocking triggers customer retrials. The approximate analysis technique is based on Markovian models with state spaces whose cardinalities are proportional to the maximum number of calls that can be simultaneously in progress within cells. The accuracy of the approximate technique is assessed by comparison against results of detailed simulation experiments, results of a previously proposed Markovian analysis approach, and upper and lower bounds to the call blocking probability. Numerical results show that the proposed approximate technique is very accurate, in spite of the remarkably small state spaces of the Markovian models     

Data fusion of power and time measurements for mobile terminal location

The location of mobile terminals in cellular networks is an important problem with applications in resource allocation, location sensitive browsing, and emergency communications. Finding cost effective location estimation techniques that are robust to non-line of sight (NLOS) propagation, quantization, and measurement noise is a key problem in this area. Quantized time difference of arrival (TDoA) and received signal strength (RSS) measurements can be made simultaneously by CDMA cellular networks at low cost. The different sources of errors for each measurement type cause RSS and TDoA measurements to contain independent information about mobile terminal location. This paper applies data fusion to combine the information of RSS and TDoA measurements to calculate a superior location estimate. Nonparametric estimation methods, that are robust to variations of measurement noise and quantization, are employed to calculate the location estimates. It is shown how the data fusion location estimators are robust, provide lower error than the estimators based on the individual measurements, and have low implementation cost.     

An integrated strategy for reducing location management cost

In this letter, an integrated location information management strategy is proposed for mobile networks, where local anchor and replica are deployed to efficiently manage the location information of a mobile terminal (MT) based on its call and mobility characteristics. As an MT's user is roaming within the local signal transfer point (LSTP) region serving the user's home or workplace, the MT's location change is reported to a local anchor (LA)-the visitor location register (VLR) associated with the user's home or workplace. Meanwhile, the LA's location is replicated at several switches (called the replicas) originating relatively high call rates to the MT. As a result, the MT's home location register (HLR) needs to be accessed only when the MT changes its LSTP region or an incoming call for the MT is generated by a nonreplica originating switch. This is shown to reduce location tracking costs.     

A Probabilistic Approach to WLAN User Location Estimation

We estimate the location of a WLAN user based on radio signal strength measurements performed by the user's mobile terminal. In our approach the physical properties of the signal propagation are not taken into account directly. Instead the location estimation is regarded as a machine learning problem in which the task is to model how the signal strengths are distributed in different geographical areas based on a sample of measurements collected at several known locations. We present a probabilistic framework for solving the location estimation problem. In the empirical part of the paper we demonstrate the feasibility of this approach by reporting results of field tests in which a probabilistic location estimation method is validated in a real-world indoor environment.     

Mobile user location update and paging under delay constraints

Wireless personal communication networks (PCNs) consist of a fixed wireline network and a large number of mobile terminals. These terminals are free to travel within the PCN coverage area without service interruption. Each terminal periodically reports its location to the network by a process calledlocation update. When a call for a specific terminal arrives, the network will determine the exact location of the destination terminal by a process calledterminal paging. This paper introduces a mobile user location management mechanism that incorporates a distance based location update scheme and a selective paging mechanism that satisfies predefined delay requirements. An analytical model is developed which captures the mobility and call arrival pattern of a terminal. Given the respective costs for location update and terminal paging, the average total location update and terminal paging cost is determined. An iterative algorithm is then used to determine the optimal location update threshold distance that results in the minimum cost. Analytical results are also obtained to demonstrate the relative cost incurred by the proposed mechanism under various delay requirements.     

Effective Paging Schemes with Delay Bounds as QoS Constraints in Wireless Systems

In this paper new paging schemes are presented for locating mobile users in wireless networks. Paging costs and delay bounds are considered since paging costs are associated with bandwidth utilization and delay bounds influence call setup time. In general, location tracking schemes require intensive computation to search for a mobile terminal in current PCS networks. To reduce the paging costs, three new paging schemes, reverse, semi-reverse and uniform, are introduced to provide a simple way of partitioning the service areas and decrease the paging costs based on each mobile terminal's location probability distribution. Numerical results demonstrate that our approaches significantly reduce the paging costs for various probability distributions such as uniform, truncated discrete Gaussian, and irregular distributions.     

GALE: An Enhanced Geometry-Assisted Location Estimation Algorithm for NLOS Environments

Mobile location estimation has attracted a significant amount of attention in recent years. The network-based location estimation schemes have been widely adopted based on the radio signals between the mobile device and the base stations. The two-step Least-Squares (LS) method has been studied in related research to provide efficient location estimation of the mobile devices. However, the algorithm results in insufficient accuracy for location estimation with the existence of Non-Line-Of-Sight (NLOS) errors. A Geometry-Assisted Location Estimation (GALE) algorithm is proposed in this paper with the consideration of different geometric layouts between the mobile device and its associated base stations. In order to enhance the precision of the location estimate, the GALE scheme is designed to incorporate the geometric constraints within the formulation of the two-step LS method. The algorithm can be utilized to estimate both the two-dimensional and the three-dimensional positions of a mobile device. The proposed GALE scheme can both preserve the computational efficiency from the two-step LS algorithm and obtain a precise location estimation under NLOS environments. Moreover, the Cramer-Rao Lower Bound (CRLB) for various types of measurement signals is derived to facilitate the performance comparison between different location estimation schemes. Numerical results illustrate that the proposed GALE algorithm can achieve better accuracy compared with other existing network-based location estimation schemes.