CHAPTER 4

Mobility Management in Wireless Communication

Introduction:
Mobility is important in mobile communication. It can be categorized as radio mobility and
network mobility. Radio mobility is mainly concerned with the handoff process, whereas
network mobility mainly deals with mobile location management (i.e., location updating and
paging). As mobiles travels across system boundaries, whether they are cell, location, or a
mobile switching center (MSC) area, the network must be able to locate the mobile subscriber
and automatically route the call to him or her.

The public land mobile network (PLMN) is an integrated service digital cellular network
providing wireless access for mobile subscribers to other networks and network services,
including other PLMNs. A PLMN area is divided into regions called location areas (LAs). Each
LA is made up of one or more cell areas. A mobile station (MS) registers with the visitor
location register (VLR) each time it enters a new LA. The mobile station is free to move inside
a given LA without a registration (see Figure 12.1). Each cell has a unique identification
number called a cell global identification (CGI), which contains location area identification
(LAI) and cell identification (CI) (see Figure 12.2). The LAI consists of mobile country code
(MCC), mobile network code (MNC), and location area code (LAC). The CI is a specific cell
identity within a given location area.

Mobility management in wireless networks is the primary set of functions that are supported by
the network to enable subscriber mobility. Mobility management enables the network to keep
track of the subscriber’s status and location to deliver calls to that subscriber. It also enables the
network to authorize a subscriber for service in a given service area. The key component to
mobility management is the subscribers’ service profile. The service profile is a database record
in the network that contains information about each subscriber. This information includes
dynamic data such as current location and status of a subscriber as well as permanent data such
as the service profile, International mobile subscriber identity (IMSI), and so on of a subscriber.

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Mobility Management Functions:

Mobility management generally deals with Automatic roaming, Authentication, and

Handoff.

Automatic roaming includes a set of network functions that allow a subscriber to obtain
service outside the home service provider area. These functions are automatic and do not require
special subscriber actions. The automatic roaming functions are divided into:

 Mobile station (MS) service qualification

 MS location management
 MS state management
 Home location register (HLR), and VLR fault recovery

The authentication process requires that end users of the system are authenticated, i.e., the
identity of each subscriber is verified.
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Handoff is one of the essential features that guarantee the subscriber mobility in a mobile
network, where the subscriber can move around. Maintaining connection with a moving
subscriber is possible with the help of the handoff function. The basic concept is simple: when
the subscriber moves from the coverage area of one cell to another, a new connection with the
target cell has to be set up and connection with the old cell may be released. Controlling the
handoff mechanism is, however, quite a complicated issue in cellular systems.

Mobile Location Management:

Location management schemes are based on subscribers’ mobility and incoming call rate
characteristics. Using the location update (LU) procedure the network keeps track of the mobile
subscriber’s location to direct the incoming call. The paging process transmits paging messages
to all those cells where mobile terminals can be located. There is a trade-off between the LU
cost and paging cost. If the LU cost is high, the paging cost will be low, as paging is performed
over a small area. On the other hand, if the LU cost is low, the paging cost will be high, as
paging is performed over a wider area.

Location management uses either the periodic LU or the LU-on-LA- crossing. In the periodic
LU method, an MS periodically sends its identity to the network. In the LU-on-LA-crossing
method, each base station (BS) periodically broadcasts the identity of its LA. The advantage of
this method is that it requires LUs only when the MS actually moves. A highly movable mobile
generates a large number of LUs, a low mobility mobile triggers only a few.

A hybrid location management scheme combines the two methods. The MS generates its LU
each time it detects an LA crossing. However, if no communication has occurred between the
MS and the network for a specified duration of time, the MS generates an LU. This is a periodic
LU that typically allows the network to recover subscriber location data in case of a database
failure.

Mobility Model:
A mobility model describes the occurrence of procedures such as LU and handoff. Several
models have been proposed.

Fluid model: This model assumes traffic flow to be like the flow of a fluid. The model suggests
that the amount of traffic fl owing out of an area is proportional to the population density of the

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area, the average velocity of movement, and the length of the area boundary. For an area, the
average number of crossings per unit time is given as:

Markovian model: This is also known as the random walk model. The Markovian model
describes individual movement. In this model, a mobile subscriber either remains within the
region or moves to an adjacent region according to a transition probability distribution. One of
the limitations of this model is that there is no concept of trips.

Gravity model: Variations of the gravity model have been employed in transportation research
to model human movement behavior. Gravity models have been applied to regions of varying
sizes, from city models to national and international models. The main difficulty in using the
gravity model is that many parameters are required in the calculations; it is therefore difficult to
model geography with many regions.

Mobile Registration:

The detection of a subscriber in a new serving system is an example of a registration event. The
registration is a subset of automatic roaming functions. It primarily consists of MS service
qualification and MS location management. These functions enable a subscriber to register with
the network; that is, to indicate to the network location register functional entities the location
and status of the MS. The registration-related functions generally must be performed before the
network can provide service to the subscriber; however, there are exceptions, such as access to
emergency services by dialing 911.

The air interface standards for advanced mobile phone systems (AMPS), time division multiple
access (TDMA), and code division multiple access (CDMA) support different types of
registration than does GSM.

A mobile station registering on an access channel may perform any one of the following
registration types:

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Distance-based registration: when the distance between the current cell and the cell where the
mobile last registered exceeds a threshold.

Geographic-based registration: whenever a mobile enters a new area of the same system. A
service area may be segmented into smaller regions, known as location areas, which are groups
of one or more cells. The MS identifies the current location area via parameters transmitted by
the MS on the forward control channel. Location-based registration reduces the paging load of
the system by allowing the network to page only in the location area(s) where a mobile station
is registered.

Parameter change registration: when specific operating parameters in the mobile are
changed.

Periodic registration: when the system sets parameters on the forward control channel to
indicate that all or some of the mobile stations must register. The registration can be directed to
a specific mobile or a class of mobile stations.

Power-down registration: when the mobile is switched off. This allows the network to
deregister a mobile immediately upon its power-down.

Power-up registration: when power is applied to the mobile, and used to notify the network
that the mobile is now active and ready to place or receive calls.

Timer-based registration: when a timer expires in the mobile. This procedure allows the
database in the network to be cleared if a registered MS does not register after a fixed time
interval. The time interval can be varied by setting parameters on the control channel.

Handoff:

As the mobile moves from one cell area to another, an active call must undergo a switch from
one channel to another. This process is called a handover or handoff. Handoffs are either
initiated by the base station controller (BSC), based upon radio subsystem criteria such as RF
level (RXLEV), signal quality (RXQUAL) or distance, or they are a result of network traffic
loading.

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Handoff Types:
There are two types of handoff: internal and external. If the serving and target base stations are
located within the same BSS, the BSC for the BSS performs the handoff without the
involvement of MSC. This type of handoff is referred to as intra-BSS handoff. However, if the
serving and target base stations do not reside within the same BSS, an external handoff is
performed. In this case, the MSC coordinates the handoff and performs the switching tasks
between the serving and target base stations. The external handoffs can be either within the
same MSC (intra-MSC) or between different MSCs (inter-MSC).

Handoff Techniques:
Handoff techniques can be classified as mobile-controlled handoff (MCHO), network controlled
handoff (NCHO), and mobile-assisted handoff (MAHO).

Mobile-controlled handoff is the most popular technique for low-tier radio systems (indoor). It
has been used by European digital enhancements of cordless telephony (DECT) and North
American personal access communications system (PACS). In this case, the mobile
continuously monitors the signal strength and signal quality from the serving base station and
several handoff candidate base stations.

Network-controlled handoff is employed by a low-tier CT-2 and a high-tier AMPS system. In

this case, the base station monitors signal strength and signal quality from the mobile. When
these fall below some thresholds, the network arranges for a handoff to another base station.

Mobile-assisted handoff strategy has been employed by high-tier 2G and 3G (WCDMA,

CDMA 2000) systems. In this approach, the network provides the mobile with a list of base
station frequencies (those of nearby base stations).