Scalable Computing and Communications: Theory and Practice

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Cost Optimization for Scalable Communication in Wireless Networks with Movement-Based Location Management

Keqin Li

10.1   INTRODUCTION

To effectively and efficiently deliver network services to mobile users in a wireless communication network, a key component of the network, that is, a dynamic location management scheme, should be carefully designed, and its cost should be thoroughly analyzed. There are two essential tasks in location management, namely, location update (location registration) and terminal paging (call delivery). Location update is the process for a mobile terminal to periodically notify its current location to a network so that the network can revise the mobile terminal's location profile in a location database. Terminal paging is the process for a network to search a mobile terminal by sending polling signals based on the information of its last reported location so that an incoming phone call can be routed to the mobile terminal.

Both location update and terminal paging consume significant communication bandwidth of a wireless network, battery power of mobile terminals, memory space in location registers and databases, and computing time at base stations. Therefore, both location update cost and terminal paging cost should be minimized. However, there is a trade-off between the cost of location update and the cost of terminal paging. More location updates reduce the cost of terminal paging, while insufficient location update increases ...